MSA Global Delivers India’s First Fully Indigenous BM-21 Grad Barrels, Clears Army Phase-1 Trials

In a significant boost to India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem, MSA Global Technology & Engineering Pvt Ltd has become India’s first company to successfully manufacture fully metallic rocket launcher barrels for the Grad BM-21 system within the country. The achievement marks a major step in the Indian Army’s ongoing push for complete indigenisation of critical artillery subsystems.

The milestone follows the successful firing of 15 live rockets by the Indian Army, using indigenously manufactured barrels supplied by MSA Global. After meeting all performance, safety, and consistency parameters, the Army has formally issued the Firing Trial Certificate (Phase-1), validating the barrel design for operational progression.

From Imports to Indigenous Precision

Until now, the BM-21 Grad’s launcher barrels — a critical pressure-bearing component — were either imported or sourced with limited domestic value addition. With this breakthrough, the entire barrel assembly is now designed, manufactured, and qualified in India, sharply reducing dependence on foreign suppliers while improving long-term sustainment and lifecycle control.

The newly developed barrels are all-metal, high-strength, precision-machined units capable of withstanding repeated high-pressure rocket launches while maintaining tight tolerances for accuracy and safety. According to officials familiar with the trials, all 15 rockets fired during Phase-1 performed within stipulated dispersion and structural integrity limits, confirming the barrels’ operational reliability.

Phase-2 Trials to Validate Salvo Firing Capability

Following the Phase-1 clearance, the programme will now advance to Phase-2 firing trials, a more demanding test designed to simulate real battlefield conditions. In this phase, five additional indigenous barrels will be integrated, enabling a six-barrel salvo firing configuration using identical, fully indigenous barrels.

Phase-2 will assess simultaneous firing stresses, thermal endurance, vibration loads, and structural fatigue, ensuring that the barrels can handle rapid, multi-rocket launches without degradation. Successful completion would effectively clear the system for wider induction and serial production.

Seven-Year Indigenous Development Effort

The indigenous BM-21 barrel programme has been under development since 2018, reflecting a long-term and methodical approach rather than a rushed replacement. MSA Global worked in close technical collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), leveraging advanced materials research, metallurgical modelling, and stress-analysis simulations.

Testing and validation were conducted in partnership with NABL-accredited laboratories, ensuring compliance with nationally recognised quality and safety standards. The development cycle included material selection, forging and machining optimisation, internal surface treatment, pressure testing, and live-fire evaluation, bringing the system in line with global military benchmarks.

Strategic Impact for Indian Rocket Artillery

The BM-21 Grad remains a key component of India’s rocket artillery inventory, valued for its 122-mm rockets, high-volume firepower, and battlefield flexibility. Indigenous barrel manufacturing not only strengthens operational readiness but also enables faster repairs, upgrades, and future modifications, particularly important during prolonged deployments or high-intensity conflict.

Defence analysts note that this success creates a domestic industrial foundation for next-generation rocket systems, including improved accuracy variants and extended-range rockets. It also positions Indian industry to support exports, spares production, and technology upgrades for legacy systems operated by friendly nations.

A Concrete Step Toward Full Indigenisation

With Phase-1 trials completed and Phase-2 underway, the BM-21 Grad barrel programme stands as a practical demonstration of India’s maturing defence manufacturing capabilities. More importantly, it shows that complex, safety-critical artillery components — once considered difficult to localise — can now be designed, built, tested, and fielded entirely within India.

As the Indian Army continues to modernise its artillery forces, the successful indigenisation of BM-21 Grad barrels represents not just a technical achievement, but a strategic shift toward self-reliance in firepower systems.