Government speeds up procurement process of 1.85L rifles for Army

Already nearly 20 gun manufacturers including a number of foreign entities have responded to the request for information (RFI) for the assault guns and steps are being taken to move the procurement process speedily, Indian Army official sources said.

By: PTI

New Delhi | Updated: July 9, 2017 04:51 PM IST

2 min read

central armed forces, weapons procurement, armed forces weapons, Steps to procure weapons, india news, indian express news

FILE -- In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, three variations of the AR-15 assault rifle are displayed at the California Department of Justice in Sacramento, Calif. While the guns look similar, the bottom version is illegal in California because of its quick reload capabilities. Omar Mateen used an AR-15 that he purchased legally when he killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub over the weekend President Barack Obama and other gun control advocates have repeatedly called for reinstating a federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons that expired in 2004, but have been thwarted by Republicans in Congress. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,file)

Weeks after the Army rejected an indigenously-built assault rifle, the government has decided to speed up the procurement procedure for over 1.85 lakh high calibre guns to replace ageing INSAS rifles. The Army has been pressing for fast tracking the supply of the 7.62×51 mm guns and particularly sought immediate procurement of at least 65,000 rifles to enhance its fire power in border areas and in counter-terror operations.

Last month, the Army had rejected the 7.62×51 mm guns built by the state-run Rifle Factory, Ichapore, citing poor quality and ineffective fire power.

The Army is badly in need of the assault rifles and the contract for the guns is likely to be finalised in the next few months.

Official sources said there were “excessive number of faults” in the guns manufactured by the rifle factory and “complete redesigning of the magazine” was needed to consider the guns to be used by the Army.

The Army last year had rejected another indigenously-built assault rifle called the 5.56 mm Excalibur guns as it did not meet the required standards.

In its RFI, the Army had specified effective range of the 7.62×51 mm guns at 500 metres, adding they should be as light as possible in weight.

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It had also mentioned that the guns should be capable of “fitting and firing” under barrel grenade launcher manufactured by Ordnance Factory, Trichy.

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