 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2021) |
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| Industry | Defence |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Tank Ammunition |
| Owner | Munitions India Limited |
The High Energy Projectile Factory (HEPF) is an artillery ammunition factory operated by Munitions India Limited. It was previously part the erstwhile Ordnance Factories Board of the Government of India the factory is located about 25 kilometres from the main city of Tiruchirappalli. [1]
The factory was initially established in the late 1980s as a unit of Defence Research and Development Organisation in collaboration with other government defence agencies and some foreign partners. After full scale development of the product was completed, the factory was handed over to Ordnance Factories Board, to begin full-scale production. This is one of the forty one ordnance factories operated by OFB throughout India, and one of the two factories in Tiruchirappalli, the other being Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT). After dismantling of Ordnance Factory Board the High energy Projectile Factory become part of newly formed DPSU Munitions India Limited.
The factory produces 400 tonne per annum home-made tungsten based heavy alloy components through powder metallurgy processes [2] to manufacture FSAPDS (Fin Stabilized Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot), alternatively called the APFSDS, which is a high kinetic energy weapon used in tank and other armor-piercing ammunition, supplied to Indian Army. [3]
The project factory is set up separately from the township that houses the employees working in the project. The township is a part of the project and is adequately equipped for meeting the daily needs of its residents. There are government quarters for the employees, a small dispensary-cum-hospital, banks and post-office. There are two schools, one of them being a Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School). There is a small market complex that houses a few shops selling groceries, stationery shops, PCO among others.
The place is surrounded by a few small villages and settlements. It is also connected by road to its sister factory OFT, which is a couple of kilometres away and BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) is located about 5 kilometres away. There are buses connecting the township to the main town and a few auto-rickshaws also ply between the places.
A kinetic energy penetrator is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate vehicle armour using a flechette-like, high-sectional density projectile. Like a bullet, this type of ammunition does not contain explosive payloads and uses purely kinetic energy to penetrate the target. Modern KEP munitions are typically of the armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) type.
Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour.
A flechette is a pointed steel projectile with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French fléchette, "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette. They have been used as ballistic weapons since World War I. Delivery systems and methods of launching flechettes vary, from a single shot, to thousands in a single explosive round. The use of flechettes as antipersonnel weapons has been controversial.
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is a type of shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity superplastic jet; this is capable of penetrating armor steel to a depth of seven or more times the diameter of the charge. The jet's effect is purely kinetic in nature; the round has no explosive or incendiary effect on the target.
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage sometimes includes large solid kinetic projectiles that is properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used.
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.
Armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) is a type of spin-stabilized kinetic energy projectile for anti-armour warfare. Each projectile consists of a sub-calibre round fitted with a sabot. The combination of a lighter sub-calibre projectile with a full-calibre propellant charge allows for an increase in muzzle velocity compared to full-calibre rounds, giving the round increased armour-penetration performance. To further enhance their armour-penetration capabilities, APDS rounds typically feature a hardened core made from tungsten or another hard, dense material.
A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also be mounted to tanks.
The KPV-14.5 heavy machine gun is a Soviet designed 14.5×114mm-caliber heavy machine gun, which first entered service as an infantry weapon in 1949. In the 1960s, the infantry version was taken out of production because it was too large and heavy. It was later redesigned for anti-aircraft use, because it showed excellent results as an AA gun, with a range of 3,000 meters horizontally and 2,000 meters vertically against low flying planes. It was used in the ZPU series of anti-aircraft guns. Its size and power also made it a useful light anti-armour weapon on the BTR series of vehicles and the BRDM-2 scout car.
High-explosive incendiary/armor-piercing ammunition (HEIAP) is a form of shell which combines armor-piercing capability and a high-explosive effect. In this respect it is a modern version of an armor-piercing shell. The ammunition may also be called semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary (SAPHEI)
Thiruverumbur is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirapalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was merged with the Tiruchirappalli Corporation in 2011.
Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), long dart penetrator, or simply dart ammunition, is a type of kinetic energy penetrator ammunition used to attack modern vehicle armor. As an armament for main battle tanks, it succeeds Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition, which is still used in small or medium caliber weapon systems.
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. The 41 Indian Ordnance Factories have been converted into 7 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).
List of abbreviations, acronyms and initials related to military subjects such as modern armour, artillery, infantry, and weapons, along with their definitions.
Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.
The economy of Tiruchirappalli is mainly industrial. The factories of Ordnance Factories Board such as Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli and Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and Golden Rock Railway Workshop are located in Tiruchirappalli. Due to the presence of boiler manufacturing units BHEL and Cethar Vessels, Tiruchirappalli is also known as the "Boiler capital of India".
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory Board of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The company is headed only by an IOFS officer called General Manager who is the Chief Executive Officer, responsible for the overall management of the company. OFT is the largest small arms manufacturing company of India and has the most varied range.
The Small Arms Ammunition Factories (SAAF) were ammunition manufacturing plants run by the Australian government. Nearly all of their production was for domestic use by their military, the police forces, and government-appointed agents.
Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWE) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Kanpur, India established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. AWE primarily manufactures Small arms and artillery guns for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
Munitions India Limited (MIL) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Pune, India established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. Munitions India primarily manufactures ammunition, explosives, rockets and bombs for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.