Indian, Franco-German defence firms sign agreement to offer Katana family of ammunition to Army

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) A leading defence and aerospace company from India has entered into a "teaming agreement" with a Franco-German defence group under which the two sides will focus on offering the "Katana family of ammunition" to the Indian Army, an official statement said on Monday.

The Katana is a 155 mm precision-guided munition designed to deliver high accuracy and extended range, addressing critical operational needs of modern artillery systems.

Under the teaming agreement, SMPP, through its subsidiary SMPP Ammunition, and KNDS "will focus on offering the Katana family of ammunition to the Indian Army under the 'Make in India' policy, strengthening India's capability in advanced artillery ammunition and addressing a key operational requirement for the Indian armed forces," the statement said.

This agreement comes at a time when the Indian Army has an "extensive and urgent requirement for 155 mm artillery systems and ammunition", it said.

The agreement was signed on November 20 at the Milipol Exhibition in Paris.

According to the statement, the Katana family product includes Katana Ballistic Range (BR), Extended Range (ER) and High Precision (HP) with laser seeker ammunition.

"The Katana family of ammunition offers a full-calibre precision guided munition with extended capabilities to address armoured threats with decametric-level precision and leverages a hybrid guidance system that combines multi-constellation receiver (GNSS) and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to ensure accuracy across diverse terrains and combat environments," the statement said.

It said a future variant is expected to incorporate a semi-active laser seeker to achieve metric-level precision for even more demanding mission profiles. The fire-and-forget capability further enhances its effectiveness in complex operational scenarios, including densely populated urban areas.

Founded in 1985, SMPP Limited is a defence and aerospace manufacturer with a diverse product portfolio that includes personnel protection, platform armouring, medium and large calibre ammunition, and unmanned aerial systems (armed or surveillance) and their respective payloads.

The Delhi-headquartered company is actively expanding into new areas critical to India's defence preparedness.

KNDS Ammo France belongs to the KNDS Group, a European land defence systems leader.

"As prime contractor and lead system integrator, KNDS develops, delivers and sustains state-of-the-art manned and unmanned 'system-of-systems', complete mission solutions and its main systems and sub-platforms, including the related ammunitions and services," the statement said. PTI KND DIV DIV