The Ministry of Defence, on 25 October, came out with the request for proposal (RFP) for such UAVs which will be processed as per the fast-track procurement procedure under the “emergency procurement”.

The RFP is part of the tendering process seeking commercial and technical bids from suppliers. Some 750 such drones are needed. “The current volatile situation along the northern borders warrants expeditious procurement of operational equipment,” the RFP document said. The Army is looking for UAVs that can provide round-the-clock surveillance with ability to scan the target area and provide a processed 3D scanned image of the target to execute special missions. The MoD wants to keep out any Chinese parts and has asked the vendor to provide NATO stock number (NSN) for each item provided by a foreign maker.

This equipment will be deployed for situational awareness and short-range surveillance that will enable the special forces to execute pin-point precision strikes during direct action tasks. The Army wants the UAV to be about 2 kg in weight and be operable by one person. The UAV needs to have an endurance of 30 minutes and be able to operate indoors and in GPS-denied areas.

The post Army to procure 750 hi-tech drones for precision strikes along LoC, LAC appeared first on IMR.

The requirement of these weapons for the infantry is huge with over 380 infantry and 63 Rashtriya Rifles battalions. The Army requires around 9.5 lakh assault rifles, 4.6 lakh CQB carbines and over 57,000 LMGs.

ALSO READ: Army Modernisation : Frontline Troops Get SIG 716 Assault Rifles

Emergency procurements from abroad to meet critical operational requirements are underway. Bulk of the requirements will be met by `Make in India’ projects with foreign collaboration.

Assault Rifles

The contract for the second lot of 72,000 SiG Sauer assault rifles from the US is set to be inked by December. That would make it a total of 1.4 lakh SiG Sauer rifles. Simultaneously, the Army wants the ‘Make in India’ project to manufacture over seven lakh Kalashnikov AK-203 rifles, at the Korwa ordnance factory in Uttar Pradesh with Russian collaboration, to take off as soon as possible. The 7.62×39 mm caliber AK-203 rifles (with an effective range of 300-meter) will take care of the remaining requirement.

The manufacture of AK-203 rifles through the joint venture (JV) between OFB and Rosonboronexport-Kalashnikov, which was set up in February 2019, was stuck due to costing issues.

Light Machine Guns and Carbines

The deliveries of 16,479 Israeli Negev 7.62X51 mm LMGs will begin from January 2021 under a Rs 880 crore deal inked in March 2020. Indian companies have already been shortlisted for the subsequent project to manufacture the rest of the LMGs in India.

The RFP (request for proposal) to manufacture 4.6 lakh CQB carbines in India will also be issued in early 2021, after an earlier FTP procurement to buy 93,895 such carbines from UAE firm Caracal was scrapped. Caracal is still in the race. It has offered to invest 49 per cent in a Joint Venture with a domestic manufacturer with full technology transfer  for 93,895 CQB carbines.

ALSO READ: The Small Arms Market Scenario in India

After going through the technical evaluation under the tender, the Indian Army had chosen the CARACAL’s CAR 816 to arm the Indian soldiers, after it emerged as the lowest bidder when commercial bids were opened on Oct. 4, 2018. The next day, the Emirati company was handed over a draft contract, but there was no progress since then.

In January 2018, the current fast-track procurement of the 93,895 carbines had been approved for tendering by the Defence Acquisition Council, in a deal that was said to be worth at least Rs 2,000 crore ($270 million in today’s currency conversion).

The Army had first asked for new assault rifles and CQB carbines in 2005, while the case for LMGs was initiated in 2009. The long-drawn procurement projects were repeatedly scrapped due to graft allegations or unrealistic technical parameters.

The post ARMY MODERNISATION – Acquisition of Small Arms Fast-tracked appeared first on IMR.