CDS visits EEL in Nagpur, sees demonstration of indigenous munitions

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Saturday visited Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) in Nagpur and was given a demonstration of the test firing of the smallest rocket motor which is under development at the facility.

EEL is a subsidiary of Solar Group of Industries, whose chairman Satyanarayan Nuwal apprised the CDS about the contribution of the group in development, manufacturing and supply of industrial and military explosives as well as other high energy materials.

Since its entry into the manufacturing of defence systems in 2010, state-of-art facilities have been established at EEL for development, manufacturing and testing of modern grenades, mines, air bombs and a wide range of munitions, a release by Solar Industries said.

EEL has also successfully established production and integration facilities of all variants of Pinaka rockets for supply to the Indian Army as well as for exports to friendly countries, it said, adding EEL had successfully delivered one million state-of-the-art grenades to the Army well before the stipulated date.

The release said General Chauhan was taken to the EEL Test Range for demonstration firing of indigenously developed 30mm ammunition being supplied to the Indian Navy.

Test firing of the smallest rocket motor, a state-of- the-art product under development at EEL, which would equip the Counter Drone System with hard kill and soft kill capability, was also demonstrated to the CDS, it added.

"The CDS was also shown the lethality test of the warhead of recently developed Loitering Munition System. EELis the first Indian company to have been awarded the order from Indian Army to supply fully indigenously designed and developed Loitering Munition System Nagastra 1," the release said.

General Chauhan lauded the contribution of EEL towards Atmanirbhar Bharat in the field of ammunitions and defence systems and appreciated the commitment and dedication of its engineers and scientists.

He urged private industry to keep pace with rapid advancements in defence technologies, particularly in developing force multipliers to counter threats from adversaries.

The CDS also visited Air Force Maintenance Command in Nagpur, sources said.