Days after winning contract to supply Auxiliary Power Unit (APU’s) for Tanks, Private firm OshoCorp Global selected again by Indian Army to supply 125mm Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) ammunition for T-72/T-90 tanks.
In September 2019, the DAC (Defence Acquisition council) gave its approval for indigenous development and production of the 125mm Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) ammunition for T-72/T-90 tanks.
Under Make in India, OshoCorp has to develop and supply 85,000 of these Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) rounds for Indian Army tanks at the coat of 2,300 crores.
The complete round consists of two cartridges, an FSAPDS shot with a supplementary charge attached to it, called the secondary charge (or the front cartridge) and a main powder charge called the primary charge (or the rear cartridge).
The secondary charge consists of a shot which includes the tungsten alloy penetrator, three-segmented aluminium sabots, a tail fin for stability in flight, nylon bands, rubber seal, a tracer and a combustible cylinder with propellant charge.
The primary charge consists of a combustible cylinder with propellant charge, a steel cup which functions as the obturator and an electromechanical primer screwed on to the steel cup base.
Indian Army wanted such Armour Piercing FSDS ammunition which has a capability to achieve minimum Depth of Penetration (DoP) of 530mm (RHAe) at 60-degree angle of attack at 2000 metres.
The minimum shelf life of these must be not less than 10 years.