New Delhi: UAE based arms manufacturing company Caracal is back in race, as it responds to Indian Army tenders and offers CSR 338 rifle in response to the Army’s requirement for snipers and also close quarter carbines (CQB) as the Army is looking for both in an effort to modernize the weapons the soldiers are using.
In September 2022, a request for Information (RFI) was issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for more than 425,000 units of 5.56 mm caliber CQBS.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of Indo-Defence 2022 Expo & Forum in Jakarta, Caracal CEO Hamad Salem Alameri confirmed “Yes, we are soon going to submit our response to the Army’s Request for Proposal (RFP) for snipers. And we are also set to respond to the Request for Information (RFI) for Close Quarter Carbines too.”
The UAE based company is set to ensure that the snipers and the CQBs have more than 60 percent indigenous content keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s `Make in India’ initiative.
According to Alameri, “The Company is already present in Asia and Africa and is providing best quality products. For India we are sent to provide the snipers as well as CQBs as well as fire arms for the paramilitary forces as well as police forces in the country.”
“The Company has been providing the highest quality of weapons to the forces across the globe and at best cost. In fact a lot of parts are now being made in India,” he added.
The company will offer its CSR 338 rifle in response to the Army’s requirement for snipers. This is chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges. Caracal’s CAR 816 will be fielded for CQBs. It is the same which has previously qualified after stringent trials were carried out by the army.
In October, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a limited RFP for around 4,849 sniper rifles only to those who had responded to the RFI in June this year. There was also a requirement of 7,841,575 rounds of .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition issued to around 30 local vendors.
The RFP for the Sniper Rifles runs into 119 pages and will be procured under the `Buy India’ procurement category. There is a requirement of 4,549 bolt-action sniper rifles for the Army, around 212 for the Air Force and around 88 for the Navy.
Last month on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the UAE based Caracal had announced a tie up with an Indian company ICOMM. On signing an agreement with the Indian company, Alameri said that over almost a year and a half Caracal has been sourcing several components from India which will be used in snipers and CQBs.
