Lucknow: Russian gun maker the renowned Kalashnikov has expressed unhappiness over the Indian Army’s choice of American made Sig Sauer assault rifle describing it as an “unusual decision” as US and Russia have a tussle over arms supply to India.
India has bought 72,400 SiG Sauer assault rifles for its frontline infantry troops while it is going for a joint venture with Russian Kalashnikov to acquire over 6.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles for replacing the INSAS rifles.
“I don’t know what is the purpose for the Sig Sauer rifles because normally this kind of rifle will be used as a designate marksman rifle, as a semi-automatic sniper rifle and using that as a basic infantry rifle is a very unusual decision. We don’t know what the plan is? How they want to use it? What troops they want to give it to?,” Kalashnikov Group representative Alexander Onokoy said.
Comparing the two rifles, he said: “When we are talking about AK-203, we have to understand that it is a proven system. For basic infantry rifle, we believe it is the best option. As for 716 (Sig Sauer), there is a lot of discussion in the expert community because it is using a 7.62*51 round that has a pretty short recoil, that is generally not necessarily handled very well by every soldier. It is up to the Indian Army to decide what they want to use but we think that in this role as the basic infantry rifle, AK-203 is the best option available.”
Highlighting the features of AK-203, he said: “AK-203 is a new generation assault rifle that is going to be produced by a joint venture called Indo-Russia Rifles in Amethi. This is a new generation of the legendary AK-47. An Indian soldier deserves the most reliable weapons available and this weapon is definitely an AK. It has a lot of new features.”
“Everything is very easy to use. Indian soldiers already know how to use an AK so this weapon will be a welcome addition and we see a lot of soldiers and officers coming here and they are really glad that this weapon is going to replace the INSAS rifle,” he added.
In December last year, the Indian Army has started inducting its newly acquired American SiG Sauer assault rifles in operations. “The first lot of 10,000 SiG 716 assault rifles have arrived in India and the same has been sent to the Northern Command,” sources said.
India had signed an over Rs 700 crore contract to equip the Indian Army with 72,400 new assault rifles.
A majority of these rifles — 66,000 — are for the Indian Army. The remaining will be divided between the Indian Navy (2,000) and the Indian Air Force (4,000).
The Sig Sauer SIG716 7.62×51 mm assault rifles will replace the Indian-made 5.56x45mm INSAS rifles.
The Indian Army will also receive a major boost with the induction of more than seven lakh AK-203 assault rifles which are going to be produced in the joint venture between India and Russia.
