The Army has received the first batch of 10,000 SIG 716 assault rifles of the 72,400 ordered from the US firm SiG Sauer for Rs 638 crore in February 2019 under the fast-track procurement (FTP) route for critical operational requirements.
The delivery of all 72,000 7.62x51mm calibre rifles will be completed by early-2020. The Army will get 66,400 of these SiG-716 rifles, while 4,000 are for the Indian Air Force and 2,000 for the Navy.
These guns are compact, with an effective range of 500-metre, use modern technology and are easy to maintain in field conditions.
It has been almost 15 years since the Army first demanded them. These US-origin rifles have a longer kill range and are meant only for frontline soldiers, while Russian AK 203 asault rifles are manufactured by Ordnance Factory Korwa, under a joint venture. The factory in Uttar Pradesh will progressively manufacture 7,45,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 rifles worth over Rs 12,000 crore with even meet the demands of the police forces. The 7.62x39mm caliber AK-203 rifle, a derivative of the iconic AK-47 and has an effective range of 300-metres.
While Army will get a little over 7 lakh of these Kalashnikov rifles, the Indian Air Force will get 29,000 and the Navy 13,600.
The Army had first asked for new assault rifles back in 2005, along with close-quarter battle carbines, for its 382 infantry battalions to replace the existing 5.56mm INSAS (Indian small arms system) rifles, but unrealistic technical parameters as well as corruption allegations repeatedly derailed the procurement projects.
Apart from the new assault rifles, the Army has also gone in for emergency induction of 210 Israeli “Spike” anti-tank guided missiles and 12 launchers, which have a strike range of up to 4-km, for the western front with Pakistan, as was earlier reported by TOI.
Similarly, the Army has acquired over 30 new sniper rifles, Beretta’s .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT and Barrett’s .50-caliber M95 guns, which have an effective kill range from 1,500 to 1,800-metre, for use along the 778-km long line of control.
The Army also requires 4.58 lakh close-quarter battle carbines and replacements for the INSAS machine gun. The defence ministry says the huge shortfalls in basic infantry weapons will eventually be met with Indian companies as well as Ordnance Factory Board tying up with foreign ones to manufacture them under the “Make in India” initiative.
Night Vision Devices for LMGs
A request for information (RFI) on advanced night-vision device (ANVD) was floated by the army in December 2019. The LMG is a light support weapon that features a longer and heavier barrel along with a bipod. The LMG also has a longer range of 700 m as compared to 400 m for the rifle. While the LMG has a 30-round box magazine, it can also use the rifle’s 20-round magazine.
At present, the night firing capability of soldiers with an INSAS LMG without an ANVD is highly inaccurate. ANVD is an opto-electronic device that allows high resolution images of the area in the user’s field of view to be produced in conditions of very low light or total darkness.
The incorporation of ANVD will enable a soldier to acquire targets during night for all types of operations and thereby improving his combat efficiency. Also the ANVD will enable to identify and detect a target in adverse weather conditions, which is a limitation in absence of ANVD.
The Army’s requirement is that the device should be able to detect a human at a distance of at least 500 m and a vehicle at 1,200 m and should enable the user to identify them at a distance of 350 m. It should also have the feature to record and store images as well as videos.
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Army to Order Six Apaches
Even as the IAF inducts 22 Apache Guardian attack helicopters armed with deadly missiles and rockets, the Army too is getting ready to order six of these heavy-duty choppers or “tanks in the air” from US.
The Rs 4,168 crore contract for the six Boeing-manufactured Apaches and associated equipment will be inked soon after being cleared by the cabinet committee on security (CCS_.
The AH-64E Apache multi-role combat helicopters are being bought under the US foreign military sales programme, Washington’s government-to-government method for selling US-built platforms. The deliveries of the helicopters will begin in 2022.
Armed with fire-and-forget Hellfire missiles, an Apache can track up to 128 targets a minute and prioritise threats. The missiles equip the gunships with heavy anti-armour capabilities.
Just six helicopters constitute a flight and would have limited operational value. The maintenance facilities of these six choppers should hopefully be dovetailed with the 22 Apaches that the IAF is acquiring – that is two full helicopter squadrons.
The IAF had begun to induct its 22 Apaches earlier this year under the Rs 13,952 crore deal inked with the US in September 2015. The Indian Air Force has begun inducting these helicopters. The six army Apaches are being bought as a follow-on option to the 2015 contract.
The army will deploy attack helicopters for the first time. Attack helicopters have been on the army’s wish list for several years, but IAF objected to the plan. The army says it requires more attack helicopters as it had moved a case to buy 39 Apaches a few years ago.
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