China’s tension will increase! India is buying 73 thousand assault rifles, deal worth 837 crores with America

New Delhi : Amid the ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh on the LAC, India will purchase 73,000 additional Sig Sauer assault rifles from the US. India has signed a contract with the US for this. Earlier, 72,400 such rifles were purchased for the soldiers deployed on the border. A source told our sister newspaper Times of India on Tuesday that Sig-716 ‘patrol’ rifles with 7.62 x 51mm caliber will be purchased. These rifles have an effective ‘kill’ range of 500 meters. These rifles will be given to the infantry battalions deployed on the borders with China and Pakistan. This is an order of Rs 837 crore.

What is the reason behind the deal?

Due to delays in manufacturing Russian AK-203 Kalashnikov rifles in India, the first lot of 72,400 Sig-716 rifles (66,400 for the Army, 4,000 for the IAF and 2,000 for the Navy) was imported in February 2019 under the fast-track procurement route with US firm Sig Sauer, worth Rs 647 crore. The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Rajnath Singh had approved the procurement of an additional 73,000 Sig-716 rifles in December last year. In parallel, the Army is also procuring 40,949 light machine guns. This was approved by the DAC in August 2023 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,165 crore.

AK-203 rifles are being prepared in Amethi

In the case of Russia’s AK-203 rifles, the first 35,000 rifles were handed over to the Army earlier this year. These were assembled at the Korwa Ordnance Factory in Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh under a joint venture called “Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited”. In total, six lakh AK-203 rifles are to be manufactured at the Korwa factory over the next 10 years. These are 7.62×39 mm calibre rifles. Their effective range is 300 metres. These rifles are to meet the needs of the Indian Army of over 11 lakh personnel as well as the Air Force and Navy. The AK-203 project was first announced in 2018 but was delayed considerably due to cost, royalty, technology transfer, indigenisation level and other issues, as previously reported in the Times of India.

Army had dismissed glitch reports

The Army has in the past dismissed reports of glitches in the SIG-716 rifles, insisting that the US-origin rifles have “longer effective range, greater lethality and higher recoil” than the indigenous INSAS (5.56×51 mm) or AK-47 rifles. The Army says it is using ammunition manufactured by Indian Ordnance Factories for the SIG-716 rifles. The rifles are also equipped with Picatinny rails to facilitate mounting of various equipment and accessories, such as optical sights, UBGL (under-barrel grenade launchers), forehand grips, bipods and laser pointers, without any modifications, an official said.