The Pinaka rocket system has been developed by ARDE, Pune supported by HEMRL, another Pune-based laboratory of DRDO.

The EPRS is the upgraded version of Pinaka variant which has been in service with the Indian Army for the last decade. The system has been upgraded with advanced technologies enhancing the range to meet the emerging requirements. After establishing the performance efficacy of the enhanced range version of Pinaka, the technology was transferred to the industries viz. Munitions India Limited (MIL) and Economic Explosives Limited Nagpur. Rockets manufactured by MIL under Transfer of Technology from DRDO were flight tested during this campaign. Different variants of munitions and fuzes which can be used in the Pinaka rocket system were also successfully test evaluated in the Pokhran Field Firing Range.

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SSS Defence is set to become the second private sector company in India to manufacture small arms for the local and export markets after PLR Systems Ltd (PLR), a joint venture between Adani Group and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). The four-year-old firm SSS Defence emerged as the lowest bidder for a contract to upgrade a small number of Indian Army’s AK-47 assault rifles, beating off competition from established Israeli rival Fab Defense.

It will begin manufacturing and testing small arms at its new facility that will be operational in Bengaluru in January 2022, with the complex also housing a first-of-its kind underground weapons testing tunnel to determine their effectiveness. A 150-metre-long tunnel will be set up as the first underground facility by a private sector company in the country for testing and evaluation of weapons ranging from pistols and assault rifles to carbines and sniper rifles. The testing process allows manufacturers to gather crucial tactical weapon data including muzzle velocity, action time and consistency.

Thus far it has built prototype weapons such as assault rifles and sniper rifles at a ‘bridge’ or make-shift facility in Bengaluru, and the new facility will allow the Bengaluru-based firm to ramp up annual production to 20,000 assault rifles and 3,000 sniper rifles depending on orders.

The upgrade would entail a new foldable butt stock for the rifle, a new dust cover that will allow mounting of sights, and changes to the fore end, which will allow mounting of a bipod or a knife when needed, besides hand guard and vertical grip. SSS has also offered to upgrade the rifle with a flash hider at no extra cost, since it was not part of the requirements issued by the particular unit of the Army. While all upgrades by Fab Defense involved parts made of polymer, SSS Defence is offering aerospace alloys.

The weapons to be manufactured at SSS Defence’s eight-acre unit at Jigani near Bengaluru’s well-known technology hub, Electronic City, include the Viper and Saber sniper rifles, P-72 assault rifles and the P-72 carbines. The weapons facility represents an investment of around ₹200 crore.

The company is also setting up an ammunition manufacturing plant at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh that is expected to be operational next year.

PLR Systems to Supply Navy With Israeli Pistols

The Navy has placed an order for the supply of 500 India-manufactured specialised Israeli Masada 9mm pistols for its elite commando unit with an Indian private firm, PLR Systems. These will replace the current lot of 9 mm pistols in use with the naval commands or MARCOS. The delivery of these pistols, along with specialised kits and sights, will be completed early next year. The order was placed under fast-track procurement procedure.

PLR Systems is a joint venture with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), which has been bought over by the Adani Group. The production factory is situated in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.

PLR is already supplying India-made rifles and pistols to central armed police forces (CAPF). The 56×45 mm chambered Tavor X 95, in use with the Special Forces and the CAPF, is already being manufactured in India and has been supplied to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Under the joint venture, PLR System is also making other smalls arms like Galil sniper rifles and Uzi Pro submachine gun with indigenous content ranging from 40-60 per cent under transfer of technology.

Even though these systems are in use with the defence forces and manufacturing is taking place in India, fresh orders are hard to come by. This is because in case of a repeat order, the contract is sent to IWI directly instead of the local manufacturing unit. This happens because an order to the local manufacturing unit would mean a change in the name of the contracting firm. Under the procurement rules, this would be seen as a contract being given to a new company. This means that fresh trials will have to be held, even when it is the same rifle manufactured in India with a large indigenous component.

Thales to Invest $1.2 Billion in India

French aerospace and defence major Thales Group is betting big on India — especially the emerging drone space here — and has decided to invest a billion euros (about $1.2 billion) in the country over the next five years.

Its drone offerings — that range from manufacturing to traffic management and countering rogue drones — will account for a significant part of this planned mega investment.

India currently has 6 lakh drones, a number that the French major expects will rise at least six times in 5-8 years. “Our solutions allow civil and military aviation authorities to detect — even without data transmission — and verify a drone’s registration number, identify its pilot, and confirm its flight authorisation, all in a few seconds. By the same time, to cope with unexpected or non-registered drones, detection and classification are the first steps before engaging a graduated response,” says Ashish Saraf, Thales India VP & country director.

Russia waives royalty on AK 203 Assault Rifles

With Russia waiving a royalty clause in favour of technology transfer, the green signal has been given for the deal to manufacture AK 203 assault rifles at the Amethi factory. The Rs 5,124 crore contract is likely to be inked in the coming months, with production expected to commence next year.

All issues related to the cost and indigenisation content that had held back the project till now have now been sorted out and a go-ahead has been given by the Defence Acquisition Council.

Central to the cleared proposal will be a full technology transfer for the rifles that are to be manufactured in India. In earlier discussions, the Russian side had asked for a royalty on each rifle being produced in India. This has now been waived and India will pay for technology transfer, waiving the royalty.

The move, sources said, would result in saving of at least Rs 200 crore in the coming years and would ensure that India gets the knowhow to produce modern assault rifles that can also be exported in future. As part of the contract, 70,000 rifles will be imported directly from Russia while 6,01,427 will be produced by an OFB-Kalashnikov joint venture.

The ongoing restructuring of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is not expected to have any impact on the joint venture for the production of AK 203 rifles and a complete transfer of technology is expected to be achieved within 32 months of the contract.

The plan to manufacture has been under discussion for almost two years, with the contract stipulating 100% transfer of technology and possible exports in future from the Indian plant. The Amethi factory in Amethi was inaugurated in 2019 but production is yet to commence.

As the AK 203 deal was being negotiated, the army had placed import orders for the Sig Sauer 716 assault rifles, which were priced at Rs 89,000 a piece. Emergency financial powers were used to order 1.4 lakh of the US-made rifles. In contrast, the Russian origin rifles that will eventually be fully produced in India are expected to cost a little over Rs 70,000 per piece after production starts.

Solar Industries to Develop Armed Drones

Solar Industries or Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) has developed the first indigenous drones and loitering munition systems. The munition loiters over a given area and swoops down to strike when the target is located. Two fixed winged planes and a hexacopter have been developed.

The systems are billed to be better suited to the terrain along all Indian frontiers. The Army at present has similar systems from Israel and Polish sources.

Apart from the drones, the company has also developed anti-drone missiles, which can fire a salvo and take on a swarm of drones well before it can strike. User trials are planned in the coming months for different versions of the drone as well as the anti-drone systems.

EEL is a fully owned subsidiary of Solar Industries Limited (SIL) — headed by businessman Satyanarayan Nuwal. Solar Group will be the first indigenous company to develop it in-house. The company as developed three versions weighing 1.5kg, 4kg and 10kg, with range of 15, 25 and 100km respectively.

The EEL release said it has developed the anti-drone system, which is capable of soft kill, which means impairment of its system, and also striking it down using micro missiles. This is also the first of its kind in India.

Armed Forces’ Emergency Powers Extended Again

The Defence Ministry has once again extended the emergency powers accorded to the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) for urgent revenue procurements and works amid continuing tensions with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, even as the ministry emphasised strengthening the existing rules of procurement.

Emergency powers for revenue procurements through fast-track process have been extended for three more months till December 31. This is the third extension of emergency powers granted for revenue procurements since last year when they were first invoked. While they were first extended till March from December last year, they were again extended till August this year.

No extension was, however, granted to the emergency powers accorded to the three Services for capital procurements.

The ministry has also stressed on the need to strengthen the existing procurement processes under the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) for capital procurements and Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) for revenue procurements, instead of frequently bringing in emergency powers for urgent procurements.

The emergency revenue procurement powers were delegated under the respective Army, Navy, Air Force and Integrated Defence Staff Schedule of Powers under the revised Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services (DFPDS-2021) unveiled by Rajnath Singh in September this year.

DAC Approves Proposals Worth Rs 7,965 crore

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), in its meeting of 2 November 2021, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals for modernisation and operational needs of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 7,965 crore. All of these proposals (100%) are under ‘Make in India’ with focus on design, development and manufacturing in India.

Key approvals of procurement from domestic sources include twelve Light Utility Helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL); Lynx U2 Fire Control System from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) which will enhance the detection tracking and engagement capabilities of Naval war ships and Mid Life Upgradation of the Dornier Aircraft from HAL to increase the Naval capacity of maritime reconnaissance and coastal surveillance.

As a further impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, a global procurement case of Naval guns has been foreclosed with these guns’ quantity added to the upgraded Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) being manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). These SRGMs provide niche capabilities of engaging fast manoeuvring targets using guided munitions and range extensions and are to be fitted on the warships of the Indian Navy.

Ban Lifted on AgustaWestland & Leonardo

India has formally lifted the ban on Italian firm AgustaWestland and its parent company Leonardo, paving the way for them to take part in the multiple ongoing projects and bid for upcoming defence contracts.

One of the earliest casualties of the scandal, in fact, was the cancellation of India’s proposed Rs 1,200 crore deal to buy Black Shark heavy-weight torpedoes from a Finmeccanica subsidiary for the six French-origin Scorpene submarines being constructed at Mazagon Docks.

It was in early-2012 that allegations of Rs 360 crore being paid as bribes to Indian politicians, bureaucrats and IAF officers to swing the Rs 3,546 crore deal to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters had first surfaced in a probe by prosecutors in Italy. The deal had been inked in 2010.

The ban on Leonardo SpA and its subsidiaries had “limited India’s options” in the international arms market because the conglomerate produces a wide array of weapon systems ranging from torpedoes and 127mm naval guns to radars and short-range surface-to-air missiles.

The defence ministry’s decision to resume business with Leonardo SpA is “subject to certain conditions imposed on the company.” Under the conditions, Leonardo SpA cannot make any commercial claims or file any civil suit against the Indian government for any previous deal. Moreover, new business dealings will take place “without any prejudice” to the ongoing investigations into the alleged VVIP helicopter scam by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate, which will continue.

A new notification dated 12 November, issued by the Defence Ministry with a list of firms debarred/put on hold/suspended from doing business with it, does not name both the Italian companies that were banned in 2014 by then Congress-led UPA government over allegations of kickbacks in the VVIP chopper scam.

Leonardo has given a letter withdrawing its claims on Euros 350 million for the cancelled order of the VVIP choppers.

Lifting of the ban will allow Leonardo, earlier known as Finmeccanica, to participate in the Project 75 of the Indian Navy, under which six Scorpene submarines are being built. The submarines, four of which have been delivered to the Navy, do not have the heavyweight torpedoes that were to be procured from Leonardo. This acquisition got hit as the Italian firm was blacklisted and there was no leeway.

The lifting of the ban also ensures that Leonardo will be able to take part in upcoming Naval tenders for the new radars and turrets for its warships.

Multiple extensions of suspension of business dealing with Leonardo were given since 2014 and the last was to expire by end-November.

According to the government decision, while the ban would be lifted, the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate would continue into the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scam. The ban in 2014 had led to the company’s exclusion from a large number of defence projects where it had products to compete with others including multiple naval helicopters deals.

The company had also gone through a global re-branding exercise and changed its name from the scam-tainted Finmeccanica to Leonardo in 2016. Headquartered in Italy, Leonardo products and solutions are used in over 150 countries worldwide.

Leonardo was among the 15 arms companies on the “put on hold/suspended” list of the defence ministry till September this year. At the top are six companies, including Singapore Technologies Kinetics, Israel Military Industries, Rheinmetall Air Defence (Zurich) and Corporation Defence (Russia), which are “debarred” completely.

Engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and Tatra truck manufacturer (Czech Republic), in turn, are the four companies with whom “restricted procurements” are allowed on the basis of operational urgency, national security and non-availability of other alternatives.

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Bengaluru based-Dynamatic Technologies Ltd (DTL) has confirmed that the first Front Fuselage Assembly for the LCA-Tejas aircraft has been handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after acceptance from HAL. In 2017, Dynamatic Technologies Limited was chosen as the supplier for the Front Fuselage assembly from HAL – Light Combat Aircraft Division.

In 2019, Dynamatic Technologies Limited had launched,‘Tejas Main Fuselage Assembly’ for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the first Front Fuselage Assembly for the LCA-Tejas was delivered in 2020.

Dynamatic Technologies is the first Indian company to manufacture and export a high accuracy tooling structure to Boeing Space and recently has been awarded a contract for the delivery of tools for the Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk program. Dynamatic Technologies is already is the front runner for various other upcoming programs like Tejas Mk2, TEDBF, and AMCA and will also supply Front Fuselage Assembly for the LCA-Tejas Mk1A program.

Dynamatic Technologies to Provide Tools for T-7A RedHawk

Bengaluru-based Dynamatic Technologies Ltd said, on 24 September, that it had been awarded a contract for delivery of tools for the Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk programme. The tools are for static and fatigue testing of the control surfaces of the Red Hawk programme. Dynamatic’s chief executive officer and managing director Udayant Malhoutra said the company has been a partner with Boeing on P-8 Poseidon and CH-47 Chinook for the last decade.

“We are proud to grow our partnership with Boeing on the T-7A Red Hawk,” he said in a statement. The T-7A Red Hawk is an all-new advanced pilot-training system designed for the US air force that would train the next generation of fighter and bomber pilots, according to a statement from Dynamatic.

Produced using advanced manufacturing techniques and built along a digital thread, the T-7A aligns with the US air forces new eSeries strategy by enabling design, coding and testing faster and more affordably through a digital matrix, the statement said. The Boeing/Saab T-7 Red Hawk, originally known as the Boeing T-X, is an American/Swedish advanced jet trainer developed by Boeing in partnership with Saab AB.

Economic Explosives Gets Order for 10 lakh Hand Grenades

In a first for the private sector in India, the defence ministry has placed orders, on 1 October, on a private company – Economic Explosive Limited (EEL) – for the supply of ten lakh hand grenades to replace a vintage design in service with the forces. The contract marks the first time that a privately owned company will supply the armed forces a completely built ammunition, reducing single source dependency of the OFB.

The supply of the hand grenades will be spread over a period of two years. The new grenades – called multi mode hand grenades (MMHG) – have been designed by the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory of DRDO and is completely made in India. The cost of the grenades is lesser than comparative production costs by OFB.

These new grenades will be supplied to the army and air force to replace Grenade No 36 – a World War II vintage design – that is currently in service. The MMGH can be used in fragmentation and stun modes and has a proven accurate delay time and high usage reliability.

DRDO had transferred technology to manufacture the grenades to the private company in 2016, following which extensive trials were carried out by the army in all weather conditions. These included trails in the deserts, high altitude areas as well as plains.

With the technology proven, the defence ministry fast tracked the acquisition case in just over a year, marking a speedy internal decision making process for a fully indigenous system. While there is a significant domestic demand for the MMHG, with India looking at becoming an export destination, the order could open up the international market for EEL as well. EEL is part of the Solar Group, which has set up a 2,000 acre facility for manufacturing ammunition and high energy materials in Nagpur – the biggest such project undertaken by the private sector.

Kongsberg Maritime to Supply Survey Systems to GRSE

Kongsberg Maritime announced, on 25 September, the sale of four HUGIN AUV systems to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE), located in Kolkata. This sale has been conducted in collaboration with Kongsberg Maritime India, a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime.

The purchase, which also includes HiPAP 502 high-accuracy acoustic positioning and communication systems to support AUV operations, will be installed on the four Large Survey vessels currently in build for the Indian Navy.

HUGIN AUVs from KONGSBERG, which will augment the Indian Navy’s capabilities for coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys to aid maritime operations.

The AUVs will be supplied with containers and launch and recovery systems, plus training and support.

Kongsberg Maritime is the world leader in deep water AUV systems. Since the first dive in 1993, HUGIN has become the most successful AUV in the deep-water realm, with more kilometres surveyed than any other untethered underwater vehicle. Developed in partnership with FFI – the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment – HUGIN continues to improve with new capabilities, sensors and behaviours being added each year.

Webley & Scott to Make Guns in India

Famous British firearms manufacturing company, Webley & Scott (W&S), which armed the Allied forces during the two World Wars and produced weapons for at least 15 countries, will mark its presence in the Indian sub-continent from November with the manufacturing of arms from its new unit in UP’s Sandila (Hardoi), barely 30km from Lucknow.

The handgun manufacturing giant has joined hands with Lucknow-based Sial Manufacturers Pvt Ltd for the project and will begin operations with production of revolvers.

The new unit will manufacture .32 revolver in the first phase. Later, it will manufacture pistols, airguns, shotgun and ammunition as well.

The original design of Mark IV .32 pistol of 1899 would be used to cater to Indian market in the first phase.

The cost of the .32 revolver will be Rs 1.6 lakh. Webley & Scott will be the first foreign company to manufacture firearms here.

Foreign Companies to Bid For Sniper Rifles

The National Security Group (NSG) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have come out with open tenders for 7.62x51mm sniper rifles that allow foreign purchases, despite the item figuring in the negative import list put out by the Modi government in August.

The negative import list sets December 2020 as the cut-off date for the rifle, which means its foreign-manufactured versions should not be bought after that date. The sniper rifle is one of 101 items on the negative import list issued in August, with different embargo dates — running up to 2025 — for different products.

The NSG came out with a tender for six sniper rifles on 15 September, also seeking accessories. The NSG tender does not allow direct participation of foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). However, the Indian agent can participate in the tender and import the rifles and supply to the NSG.

The ITBP tender was issued on 10 August, a day after the negative import list came out, and seeks 358 sniper rifles of the 7.62x51mm variant.

No corrigendum has been issued by the ITBP for this tender except for an extension of the dates to close the bid. A source said foreign OEMs can’t directly apply, but any Indian company that serves as their agent/ representative can import the item.

The defence ministry had, earlier in September, decided to scrap two deals that were being pursued under foreign procurement — carbines from the UAE and Self-Propelled Air Defence Gun Missile System (SPAD-GMS) from South Korea — and route them through the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Glock Pistols to be Made in Non-Service Calibres

The famous polymer-frame Glock pistols from Austria may soon be available to Indian citizens in non-service calibres. In 2019, the Tamil Nadu-based Counter measures technologies pvt. ltd. (CMT) and Glock GmbH, Austria, entered into a partnership to produce the pistols at the CMT plant in Tiruvallur district, which is part of the state’s defence industrial corridor planned by the Centre.

The joint venture was initially signed for supplying Glocks only to the government. With permission from the Centre, CMT has now set a target to sell the pistols to civilians by the end of March 2021, one of the Indian company’s directors and major shareholder.

The first priority of the company is to supply the 9 mm pistols to the armed forces. Civilians will get the .22 LR, .380, .357 Sig, .40 and .45 calibre pistols.

Today, Glock produces fifth generation pistols with competitors following its polymer technology.

In India, the majority of licensed firearms owners are saddled with old or antiquated foreign handguns imported before 1984 or the ones being made by government ordnance factories. The erstwhile Congress government at the Centre banned import of all types of firearms in 1984, giving exemptions only to national and international shooters and state agencies.

Glocks also went into action with NSG commandos during the terror attack on Pathankot air force base in 2016 and in other operations.

CMT has been given permission to manufacture ammunition of all calibres, ranging from the small .22 LR to the 12.7 x 108 mm heavy machine-gun cartridge used by the army. It plan to make the ammunition factory operational by the end of 2021.

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