Dragunov sniper rifles, anti-tank guided missiles, INSAS rifles and rocket launchers - war machines that civilians can only see on TV and in movies are on display in the city and people can even touch them and learn how to fire them.

The artillery and other weapons are part of an exhibition by the army, being held at Prinsep Ghat on the occasion of Independence Day. The two-day exhibition, open from 10am to 4pm, ends on Friday.

Thursday saw a large number of visitors - from school students to elderly homemakers - being explained by army men the names and usage of the various weapons on display. Several visitors posed for photographs with armymen beside the weapons.

"I always used to dream of holding one such machine ever since I saw them in the Rambo movies. I can't believe I held it today," said Amar Nath Sarkar, who works at a private firm in BBD Bag.

If Sarkar was excited holding the rocket launcher, Ashiqun Nabi was bowled over by the sniper rifle. "I have seen in several movies heroes or villains carrying such a gun and climbing highrise buildings to target people at a faraway distance. Today I got a chance to hold one and actually see through the tele-focus lens," said Nabi, a postgraduate student of geography at Rabindra Bharati University.

Nabi could barely hold the 4.6kg rifle straight for a minute. "It's heavy. I salute the army men for carrying such heavy guns for hours together."

At the exhibition army officers explained the working of the battlefield surveillance radar and integrated observation vehicle, which is stationed at the artillery observation post. "The radar has an inbuilt GPS for self-location and alignment with the digital map. It also has a built-in digital magnetic compass, which can automatically align the radar to the north," an officer said.