First batch of Multi-Mode Hand Grenades handed over to Indian Army

Source: PIB

What is the News?

The Defence Minister has handed over the first batch of indigenous Multimode Hand Grenades (MMHG) to the Indian Army.

About Multimode Hand Grenades(MMHG):

1. The Multimode Hand Grenades(MMHG) has been designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratories and produced by Economic Explosives Ltd in Nagpur.
2. The MMHG grenades will replace Grenade No. 36 of World War I vintage design that is still in service.

Key Features of MMHG:

1. The grenade offers multiple advantages to soldiers in terms of safety and penetration attack as compared to the vintage hand grenades.
2. The grenade operates in a dual mode. In the offensive mode, the grenade does not have a fragment sleeve and is used for low-intensity attacks. This mode is used when the soldier targets the attack within five metres from the point of burst.
3. The defensive mode is used when the soldier is in shelter and the enemy is in an open area.
4. Moreover, the grenade has a minimum shelf life of 15 years from manufacturing under normal storage conditions, proving that it is stable and can be used for a long time.

Steps Taken by Government of India to Transform Defence Sector:

1. Setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; 
2. Formulation of draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020; 
3. Allocating 64% of its modernisation funds under capital acquisition budget for 2021-22 for procurement from domestic companies; 
4. Notifying two Positive Indigenisation Lists of over 200 defence items to promote self-reliance & defence exports; 
5. Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB); 
6. Increasing FDI limit from 49 to 74%  under automatic route and beyond 74% through government route and 
7. Giving top priority to the ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ category for capital procurement.