Photo used for representational purpose

NEW DELHI: The Army has set the ball rolling for the acquisition of 6.5 lakh new assault rifles, with “reduced technical specifications”, under what will eventually be an over Rs 12,000 crore “Make in India” project in the years ahead.

The Army on Friday floated a RFI (request for information) for 7.62x39 square mm caliber assault rifles, with an effective kill range of 300 metres to be produced by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) as well as private sector companies, for which responses must be submitted by September 24.

This comes after the defence ministry earlier this year approved the Rs 1,798 crore procurement of 72,400 advanced assault rifles from abroad under the fast-track procedure (FTP) for frontline troops. So, in effect, soldiers deployed on the borders with China and Pakistan will get 7.62x51mm caliber assault rifles with a longer kill range, while other troops will get guns with lower GSQRs ( general staff qualitative requirements).

Though eyebrows have been raised at this, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had earlier publicly declared that his entire 12-lakh strong force could not be equipped with top-notch rifles and other weapons due to budgetary constraints.

The hi-tech 7.62x51mm caliber rifles will be only for infantry battalions deployed on the front, while the bulk of the weapons for the force would come through the indigenous route. The Army will initially accept weapon systems with “lower GSQRs” to give a boost to the local industry, but hi-tech weapons must be delivered in the long run, Gen Rawat had said.

The overall requirement in the Army, Navy and IAF is for 8.16 lakh new 7.62mm caliber assault rifles to replace the existing glitch-prone 5.56mm INSAS (Indian small arms system) rifles. The Army had first asked for new assault rifles and close-quarter battle carbines for its 382 infantry battalions (each with 850 soldiers each) way back in 2005, while the case for the light machine guns was initiated in 2009.

But soldiers are yet to get new infantry weapons because the long-drawn procurement projects were repeatedly scrapped due to graft allegations or unrealistic technical parameters as well as the lack of indigenous options for well over a decade.

