Image credit: Press Information Bureau, Government of India — K9 Vajra-T howitzers, the platform receiving the first India-produced SIGMA 30N navigation systems.
On a battlefield where satellite signals can be jammed, spoofed or simply switched off, a gun that loses its bearings loses its edge. On 3 November 2026, India took a decisive step toward making sure its artillery never does: India Optel Limited (IOL) handed over the first batch of SIGMA 30N inertial navigation systems produced at its Ordnance Factory in Chandigarh to Larsen & Toubro (L&T), for integration into the K9 Vajra self-propelled howitzers built at Hazira.
The compass inside the gun
SIGMA 30N is a high-precision, combat-proven Digital Ring Laser Gyro Inertial Navigation System. It gives a platform accurate positioning, navigation and orientation data, enabling precise gun-laying and sharper effectiveness for long-range artillery such as the K9 Vajra. The same system serves artillery guns, air defence systems, missiles and radars.
Its ring laser gyro technology is the heart of the achievement. It keeps navigation reliable without depending on external satellite signals, so artillery platforms, air defence systems, missiles and radars can keep operating through high-intensity, electronic-warfare conditions where GPS cannot be trusted. For a mobile gun battery, that independence is everything: the system’s static gyrocompass alignment lets a battery fix its position quickly, fire, and move again before enemy counter-battery fire can find it.
Built in Chandigarh, bound for Hazira
The K9 Vajra is a 155 mm tracked self-propelled howitzer manufactured by L&T at Hazira, near Surat in Gujarat, and deployed by the Army across varied terrain, including Ladakh. The Chandigarh-built SIGMA 30N systems now strengthen that programme, and deepen the indigenisation of one of India’s key artillery platforms.
More Read
The production follows the collaboration agreement signed in December 2025 between India Optel Limited, a Mini Navratna defence public sector undertaking, and Safran Electronics & Defense of France, for the transfer of production of the system to India. Under the partnership, IOL is responsible for manufacturing, final assembly, testing, quality control and full life-cycle support, while Safran contributes its established expertise in advanced inertial navigation and fire-control technologies. The same agreement also covers the CM3-MR Direct Firing Sight, designed for artillery guns and anti-drone systems.
The first lot was flagged off by Garima Bhagat, Joint Secretary (Land Systems) in the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, with senior functionaries of IOL, L&T and the Ordnance Factory present. The system itself weighs about 22 kg and is mounted on artillery platforms such as the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system, using internal laser gyro technology to calculate position and orientation autonomously.
An optoelectronics house stepping up
India Optel Limited, headquartered in Dehradun, was established in 2021 from the restructuring of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board. The company says it manufactures electro-optical sensors, weapon sights and communication equipment for the Armed Forces, across units including the Opto-Electronics Factory in Dehradun and the Ordnance Factories at Dehradun and Chandigarh.
With the first SIGMA 30N lot now on its way to Hazira, that industrial base has added one of the most demanding disciplines in modern land warfare: precision navigation that works when nothing else can be relied on. It is a quiet component, tucked inside a gun — and it is exactly the kind of capability that lets Indian artillery shoot first, shoot accurately, and move on.
Keep reading: No Runway Needed: Inside Aethrone Aerospace’s VTOL Drones for India’s Army and Navy · From Premises to Production: Inside Magellanic Cloud’s New Tactical Drone Facility for India’s Forces · More Aerospace & Defense stories
Like stories like this? Add Exceptional Technology as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting in your search results and Discover feed.
