US President Donald Trump might have ranted about India's high tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcyles and US-made whisky, but here's something he can cheer about. India's defence ministry recently approved the purchase of 72,000 battle rifles for the Indian Army made by SIG Sauer, a New Hampshire US-based small arms maker. SIG's bid emerged as the lowest among six global firms who had responded to the army's fast-track procurement tender last year. MoD sources say the deal, worth an estimated Rs 700 crore, is likely to be signed within a week. All rifles are to be manufactured in the US and shipped to India by next year, ending the army's decade-long quest for a modern rifle to equip its soldiers.

The SIG 716 battle rifles worth roughly $100 million are India's largest small arms purchase from the US. They are meant to replace INSAS and AK-47 assault rifles used by the army. Last year, two Indian ordnance factories in Ishapore and Kanpur stopped production of the indigenous INSAS rifle after both the police and paramilitary forces expressed lack of interest in the rifle. The main reason the army has struggled with its rifle acquisition is its inability to fix specifications. It changed its requirements of the weapon three times in 2011, 2015 and finally in 2017.

The government plans to acquire rights to licence-produce the AK-203 rifle in these plants from Russia's Kalashnikov Concern. The AK-203 is an updated version of the iconic rifle invented by Soviet General Mikhail Kalashnikov. While India is among the world's largest users of AK-47 type rifles, it has curiously never bought them directly from Moscow, opting for cheaper copies made by former Warsaw Pact countries like Bulgaria. A defence ministry official said the AK-203 project was on track and both sides were working out the modalities of the joint venture that will be set up to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries. BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture that has made the eponymous supersonic cruise missile since 1998, is being studied as a model.

While the 72,000 US-made SIG 716s will equip only frontline army soldiers, at least 650,000 licence-produced AK-203s are to equip the remainder of the army.

A UAE-based small arms maker has emerged as the finalist in another fast-track procurement, for 94,000 carbines (a compact rifle firing smaller bullets). These are meant to replace the army's 1960s vintage 9 mm Sterling carbines. Two questions being asked within the MoD are believed to have held up a decision on the carbine. The first, doubts on the UAE-firm Caracal's ability to supply all the weapons within a year. The other, why the carbine is costlier than the larger US-made battle rifle.

The army plans to spend Rs 3,500 crore on these small arms for which it had issued RFPs (requests for proposals) to 17 global arms manufacturers in February last year. It has cited urgent operational requirements for the procurement of these weapons which a senior army official called 'a top priority' for the infantry.

The small arms are part of a long-delayed modernisation of the Indian army's infantry units. Last February, the DAC (Defence Acquisition Council), chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved the army's contracts for buying assault rifles, sniper rifles and light machine guns worth over Rs 15,000 crore.