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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):
- 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.
- The MMHG grenades will replace Grenade No. 36 of World War I vintage design that is still in service.
Key Features of MMHG:
- The grenade offers multiple advantages to soldiers in terms of safety and penetration attack as compared to the vintage hand grenades.
- 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.
- The defensive mode is used when the soldier is in shelter and the enemy is in an open area.
- 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:
- Setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu;
- Formulation of draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020;
- Allocating 64% of its modernisation funds under capital acquisition budget for 2021-22 for procurement from domestic companies;
- Notifying two Positive Indigenisation Lists of over 200 defence items to promote self-reliance & defence exports;
- Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB);
- Increasing FDI limit from 49 to 74% under automatic route and beyond 74% through government route and
- Giving top priority to the ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ category for capital procurement.
