Indian Army's first imported artillery gun M777 ultra-light American howitzer was damaged during after a 155mm artillery round misfired and exploded in the barrel during a drill on September 2.
The shell was manufactured by the Defence Ministry's Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) exploded, reported NDTV.
The test was being done in Rajasthan's Pokhran range when a shell which was being fired exited the barrel in multiple pieces, the report adds.
There were no reports of any injury during the incident. A joint investigation team from the Army and BAE Systems is probing the incident. Both of them are the manufacturers of the howitzer.
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In May, two howitzers had arrived in New Delhi as part of a $750-million contract signed with the US in November 2016.
According to a report by The Indian Express, 145 Ultra Light Howitzers, worth about Rs 5,000 crore, were ordered from the US last year along with the bulk production of 18 Dhanush artillery guns, the first acquisition of such weapon systems by the Army in 30 years since the Bofors scandal.
Induction of the guns manufactured by BAE systems had commenced from March 2019 at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid-2021.
