A multimode hand grenade from Munitions India Limited displayed at Aero India 2023. (Janes/Saketha Potlapalli)
Munitions India Limited (MIL) has received an order for one million multimode hand grenades for the Indian Army, the state-run company has confirmed to Janes.
Shailesh Vagerwal, the general manager of MIL, said that under the order MIL has produced an initial 100,000 grenades for the Indian Army and that supplies of these weapons started in fiscal year (FY) 2022–23.
He added that MIL is awaiting clearance from the Indian Army to produce the remaining grenades under the contract. All the grenades are being manufactured at the Ordnance Factory Khamaria, which is a factory of MIL in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
The multimode hand grenades, which were displayed at MIL in Aero India 2023, were designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO's) Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL).
The hand grenade is available in defensive and offensive modes. When used in an offensive role, the grenade comprises a fuze unit with fly-off safety lever and an explosive-filled, non-fragmenting body. A removable fragmentation sleeve is added for use in the defensive role.
According to Janes Weapons Ammunition, the grenade is filled with 100 g Research Department eXplosive/Trinitrotoluene (RDX/TNT) as the main explosive filling, with steel balls embedded around the inner walls of the grenade body.
The grenade produces approximately 4,000–4,500 fragments distributed at a radius of 8–10 m from the point of explosion. In an offensive role, the result is primarily a proximity blast, but without fragments.
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