Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory Board of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The company is headed only by an IOFS officer called General Manager (ex officio Additional Secretary to Government of India) who is the Chief Executive Officer, responsible for the overall management of the company. OFT is the largest small arms manufacturing company of India and has the most varied range. History. It was inaugurated  on 3 July 1966 by the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, and production began in 1967. It was established to increase the small arms production in the country, assisting the Rifle Factory Ishapore and Small Arms Factory, Kanpur. The need was felt after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Products. OFT started its production with 9 mm carbines and now manufactures arms ranging from 5.56 mm rifles to rocket launchers, shell launchers, grenade launchers, aviation armament, naval armament, tank armament, anti-aircraft guns, autocannons, automatic rifles, sniper rifles. Technology. OFT currently manufactures some products under license from the  foreign companies that produce them. It is working closely with the Armament Research and Development Establishment and other laboratories and establishments of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to indigenise the weapons. It is also working with the companies to develop new products that would be jointly engineered. Customers. OFT mainly manufactures weapons for the Weapons manufactured by OFT such as the INSAS rifles have been exported to several countries.