Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project

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The Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project or HAPP in short is a first class defence establishment operated by the Indian Ordnance Factories Services (IOFS), under the aegis of the Ordnance Factories Board, headquartered at Kolkata (formerly Calcutta, West Bengal), under the overall charge of Ministry of Defence, Government of India.

This is one of the 40 ordnance factories operated by the IOFS throughout India and one of the two factories in Tiruchirapalli, the other being Ordnance Factory Tiruchirapalli (OFT for short). The factory is located about 25 kilometers from the main city of Tiruchirapalli.

The factory was initially established in the late 80's as an unit of DRDO in collaboration with other government defence agencies and some foreign partners. This was later on handed over to the OFB after full scale development of the product was completed, to start the full scale production.

The factory produces the FSAPDS (Fin Stabilized Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot), alternatively called the APFSDS, which is a high kinetic energy weapon used in tank and other armor piercing ammunition.

The project factory is set up separately from a small township that houses the employees working in the project. The township is a part of the project and is adequately equipped for meeting the daily needs of its residents.

The estate township is quite small and you can cover the total place on foot in about an hour. There are government quarters for the employees, a small dispensary-cum-hospital, a bank and post-office. There are two schools, one of them being a Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School). There is a small market complex that houses a few shops selling vegetables, stationery shops, PCO among others.

The place is surrounded by a few small villages and settlements. It is also connected by road to its sister factory OFT, which is a couple of kilometres away and a sprawling establishment of BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) located about 5 kilometers away. There are buses connecting the township to the main town and a few autorickshaws also ply between the places.