Small Arms & Tactical Equipment

[Gautam]

Adani buys unit in Gwalior to enter small arms business

By Manu Pubby, ET Bureau | Updated: Jan 08, 2020, 08.18 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Adani Group has entered the small arms business with the acquisition of a facility in Gwalior that will produce machine guns, carbines and other weapons for the local and export markets.

The acquisition – through a joint venture in which Israeli manufacturer IWI holds a 49% stake – will help the group acquire capabilities ranging from UAVs to helicopter systems to major aero structures.

Sources said the transfer of ownership of PLR was done late last year after Punj Llyod sold its share to a third company that was then picked up by the Adani Group. “It is important to give an impetus to Make in India. We looked for what our customers need and there is an immediate requirement for small arms and ammunition,” Ashish Rajvanshi, Head of Adani Defence & Aerospace, told ET.

Sources said the entity is poised to pick up major orders from the defence ministry, with final discussions underway for 16,400 light machine guns for which IWI is the lead contender. The acquisition under the fast-track procedure is likely to be taken up by the Defence Acquisition Committee later this month while a larger competition for 41,000 guns is also underway. Besides, paramilitary forces and state police, too, have requirements for these small arms.

“Addressing the requirement of small arms for 1.2 million Army personnel, and a similar number for paramilitary and state police is essential for their self-reliance...,” Rajvanshi said.

The Gwalior facility was inaugurated in March 2017 and was the first Indian private sector company that started manufacturing small arms and ammunition.

The facility is designed to manufacture a range of weapons including the Tavor Assault Rifle (already in use by special forces), the X 95 Assault rifle, Galil sniper rifles, Negev LMGs and Uzi sub machine guns. The first set of Indian manufacture X 95 rifles were rolled out by the facility in October 2018.

The Adani Group said that is it looking at acquiring key technologies to manufacture small arms domestically. “We are moving the assembly line for some of the most critical parts of the guns to the Indian facility,” Rajvanshi said.

As reported by ET, the Adani group has strong plans for its defence business, starting with the acquisition of Bangalore-based Alpha Design Technologies and setting up of a new manufacturing facility in Hyderabad to make Hermes 900 drones in collaboration with Israel’s Elbit Systems.

The company has already been shortlisted as a potential strategic partner for the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) contract and is also making a bid for the multibillion dollar project to build next generation conventional submarines in India under the P 75 (I) project.

Adani buys unit in Gwalior to enter small arms business

 

[Gautam]

Nagpur: Last-minute change in standards for making latest grenades raises questions

TNN | Updated: Jan 9, 2020, 14:04 IST

NAGPUR: A last-minute change in standards for making the latest multimodal hand grenades that are set to replace the World War II era M36 grenades used by the Indian Army has raised questions. The new grenades will be made by Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) and a private sector entity from Nagpur.

Nagpur’s Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) has emerged as the sole qualifying private company to bid for the hand grenade contract. Request for Proposal (RFP), the document inviting bids, has been issued to EEL as the sole qualifier.

The key parameter in a hand grenades’ functioning is the timing of explosion. A specific timing has to be fixed for the grenade to blow up after its pin is pulled. For the multimodal grenades, it has to be not before 3.5 seconds and not later than 4.5 seconds.

After the RFP was issued, an amendment was made allowing leeway for 10% of the production batch. No 5% of the grenades can have a timing between 3.5 and 4.75 seconds and another 5% can have timing between 3.5 and 5 seconds. This happened around August this year following a meeting to discuss the project in the ministry of defence, said a source.

The initial delay is needed to ensure the grenade does not blow up in soldier’s hand but it should also not give the enemy enough time to throw it back. A leeway for 10% of the production batch comes as a surprise, said sources involved in the development of the weapon.

Both EEL and the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) officials denied asking for any relaxation. Both sides said they had already achieved over 99% accuracy in maintaining the 3.5 to 4.5 seconds bandwidth during trials so there was no question of them asking for easing the norms.

Representatives of EEL management showed TOI a trial report that read the grenade made by the company had achieved more than 99% accuracy. A company official accepted there was a subsequent change in requirements.

OFB officials maintained no change in requirement has been intimated to them. This is because OFB will not be getting an order through RFP. An indent will be placed directly by the army to them. OFK will stick to the 3.5 to 4.5 timing, said an OFB official.

“Had the concession been allowed earlier, OFB would have been able to start making grenades in 2012 itself as it was already developed but perfect timings could not be achieved. The project started in 2005 and it took over a decade for the OFB to achieve the timing. Now relaxation for even 10% of the batch is no longer needed,” said an OFB official. EEL came into the picture in 2015, even as OFB was working on the project much earlier, the source said.

OFB has fired a couple of thousand rounds during the trials after which the product was cleared. Even after clearing the timings test, questions were raised about the ring on the grenade by which it is fixed to hold it by the finger. A clarification was needed on the material used for making the ring. There was another query related to rust seen on a joint. With all questions answered, OFB is now waiting for the army to issue production order. For the private sector, RFP process will continue.

Nagpur: Last-minute change in standards for making latest grenades raises questions | Nagpur News - Times of India

 

[Maximus]

My main point of contention with an AK platform is that in this day and age,the last thing I want to worry about is whether the rifle will hold zero or not.I have no doubt that in its initial years of service the rifle will hold the zero,but what about the wear and tear after rigorous use in field and few years down the line .Will it still retain zero after frequent assembling and disassembling,is still a big question!

Absence of a monolithic upper,places the ak platform in serious disadvantage over an ar or any other modern assault rifle design.The good thing is that in case of AK 203, one does not have to worry about maintaining zero with respect to iron sights.

Of course all of us know the strength of an AK platform that is ease of maintenance and reliability over an ar and other modern designs,but these point are moot as selection of sig 716 has shown that an ar is good enough for front line troops spear heading the attack.Thus an ar platform or any other modern rifle platform would have made much more sense for mass production.


When we talk about AR vs AK ,there is one interesting point to note that the UAE ,which could got hold of any design for domestic R&D and production for itself, choose an AR platform (caracal 816) ,whereas the same UAE when supplying to its proxies in other countries eg libya,Yemen and Sudan armed forces choose an AK platform -Bulgarian Arsenal 5.56 x 45 mm AR-M9 and AR-M9F .The thing to note here is that these rifle are not chambered for 7.62x39mm but the 5.56x45mm and are being used by professional armed forces not some rebel militia.Still UAE which itself produce an ar platform in 5.56x45,choose an AK platform to arm them.My guess is ease of maintenance,their ability to handle abuse,minimum logistics requirements and maybe relatively cheaper prices could be the reason behind the UAE arming these forces with Bulgarian AK over an AR.

So why did the UAE choose an AR platform for their Standard issue rifle,maybe because UAE forces does not suffer from lack of proper training or weak logistics support.Once you overcome these two problem then an AR platform is superior to an Ak every other way.


Having said all this ,there is one more interesting case study of Saudi arabia.They don't have any dearth of small arm supply nor the money to buy it.They have been using all types of rifles including g36 and ar platforms.However recently they have shown a shift towards the AK platform by equipping their special forces with AK 103,do note these forces are one of the most well funded around the world.So, what could be the reason about this shift.We can try to link this with Saudi effort to buy Russian influence,but then there are so many big ticket military hardware which they could have bought,but they choose the Russian small arms for themselves.The Saudis have years of experience of operating western small arms and they have no dearth of money. In spite of all this ,their shift towards AK platform is worth noting and would be interesting to know the reasons behind this.There are talks of Saudi opening their own production line of AK with help of Russia,however the deal is not yet finalized,the rifle could be AK 103,AK 203 or AK 15 .So now we have a country whose forces operate in hot adverse conditions and have no dearth of money to buy Gucci kits ,shifting from AR to AK,go figure!

This is how a SIG 716 Patrol g2 looks like in its standard configuration minus the optic.

AK 203 civilian version :

With scope

With red dot sight.

With FAB defense GL core stock and holographic sight.

Some videos :

 

[Maximus]

Meanwhile, these photos are self explanatory about the kind of people involved in planning ,production and decision making regarding small arms in India, be it military,bureaucratic,PSU or political.

 

[Gautam]

On the LoC, jawans wait for new weapons...

By Srinjoy Chowdhury
Updated Jan 10, 2020 | 21:42 IST

Photo: Sig Sauer 716 G2 Patrol.

The light machine guns (LMGs) are eagerly awaited. The IWI of Israel is expected to supply about 16,000 LMGs.

New Delhi: The US-made state-of-the-art Sig Sauer assault rifles have reached the Indian Army's jawans fighting terrorists along the Line of Control, but the arrival of other essentials like the carbine and the light machine gun are a long way off.

Photo: Caracal CAR816 carbine.

The delay is baffling; both the carbine and the light machine-gun were fast-track purchases (FTPs) and the go-ahead came shortly after the 71-day face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies in the Doklam area. Normally, FTPs are expected to arrive in about six to seven months, but both weapons, cleared over a year ago, seem a long way off.

The issue is likely to come up in the Defence Acquisition Council meeting on January 17 as an "update". The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, the new chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and the three chiefs are part of the council.

The initial proposal for the carbine, a "close-contact" weapon, useful for soldiers fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, was made exactly two years ago. The trials were held in July 2018 and Caracal, of the United Arab Emirates was L1, or the most cost-effective option. The deal is for 93,000 carbines and the cost, about Rs 800 crore. Army men were looking forward to the carbines as jawans haven't had them for over a dozen years.

Photo: IWI Negev LMG.

The light machine-guns (LMGs) too are eagerly awaited. The trials, in Israel, South Korea and Bulgaria, were over in August last year. IWI of Israel is expected to supply about 16,000 LMGs. The cost ? About Rs 700 crore, not an extraordinarily large amount considering the cost of weapons. A tank, for example, is about Rs 25 crore.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has new LMGs and carbines, hi-calibre weapons from Heckler&Koch. Highly placed defence sources pointed out the purchase of LMGs and carbines are appearing to follow normal procedure patterns, which take about two-three years and not the fast track procedure.

On the LoC, jawans wait for new weapons...

So we are getting Negevs for LMG then. Excellent choice I'd say, especially with the domestic production facility of it. Why the high price though ? @Parthu @Ashwin @Milspec

 

[Milspec]

So we are getting Negevs for LMG then. Excellent choice I'd say, especially with the domestic production facility of it. Why the high price though ? @Parthu @Ashwin @Milspec

close to $6000 per gun, seems legit price.

 

[Maximus]

Caracal 816 and Negev NG 7 are done deal,only signing of the deal is left which will be completed in some time.

Both are excellent choice in their respective category,had heard Negev have some reliability issue in hot desert conditions,hope they have overcome that in the NG 7 .Beside this I was wishing for the carbine tender to be cancelled in 5.56x45,and reissued for a 6.5 grendel or 6.8 rifle.Was also wishing for SSS defence to participate in it with their rifle prototype.

 

[Gautam]

Old news but wasn't posted :

Army scouts for night vision devices for LMGs

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 22

Photo: EK Smart Thermal Weapons Sight (STWS) on a PK GPMG.

Advanced night-vision device is an opto-electronic device that allows high resolution images of the area in the user’s field of view to be produced in conditions of very low light or total darkness

Photo: EK Smart Thermal Weapons Sight (STWS) on a PK GPMG.

Even as the Army prepares to replace its INSAS standard issue rifle with a contemporary weapon, it has woken up to the requirement of advanced night vision devices for the rifle’s light machine gun (LMG) variant that has been in service for close to two decades.

Advanced night-vision device (ANVD) is an opto-electronic device that allows high resolution images of the area in the user’s field of view to be produced in conditions of very low light or total darkness.

“At present, the night firing capability of soldier with an INSAS LMG without an ANVD is highly inaccurate. The incorporation of ANVD will enable a soldier to acquire targets during night for all types of operations and thereby improving his combat efficiency,” a request for information (RFI) floated by the army this month states. “Also the ANVD will enable to identify and detect a target in adverse weather conditions, which is a limitation in absence of ANVD,” the RFI adds.

Photo: BEL Passive Night Sight for LMG/AKs

The Army’s requirement is that the device should be able to detect a human at a distance of at least 500 m and a vehicle at 1,200 m and should enable the user to identify them at a distance of 350 m. It should also have the feature to record and store images as well as videos.

The INSAS, an acronym for the DRDO designed Indian Small Arms System, comprises a rifle and an LMG, both having the same 5.56 mm calibre. The LMG is a light support weapon that features a longer and heavier barrel along with a bipod. The LMG also has a longer range of 700 m as compared to 400 m for the rifle. While the LMG has a 30-round box magazine, it can also use the rifle’s 20-round magazine.

Photo: BEL Passive Night Sight for CQB rifles.

The Army wants to replace the INSAS with a 7.62 mm weapon that has longer ranger and higher kill probability. After a long drawn process, the Russian AK-103 assault rifle was selected. Some units deployed in forward areas and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir have also started getting the new SIG 716 rifle.

Army scouts for night vision devices for LMGs

 

[Parthu]

My main point of contention with an AK platform is that in this day and age,the last thing I want to worry about is whether the rifle will hold zero or not.I have no doubt that in its initial years of service the rifle will hold the zero,but what about the wear and tear after rigorous use in field and few years down the line .Will it still retain zero after frequent assembling and disassembling,is still a big question!

Absence of a monolithic upper,places the ak platform in serious disadvantage over an ar or any other modern assault rifle design.The good thing is that in case of AK 203, one does not have to worry about maintaining zero with respect to iron sights.

Of course all of us know the strength of an AK platform that is ease of maintenance and reliability over an ar and other modern designs,but these point are moot as selection of sig 716 has shown that an ar is good enough for front line troops spear heading the attack.Thus an ar platform or any other modern rifle platform would have made much more sense for mass production.


When we talk about AR vs AK ,there is one interesting point to note that the UAE ,which could got hold of any design for domestic R&D and production for itself, choose an AR platform (caracal 816) ,whereas the same UAE when supplying to its proxies in other countries eg libya,Yemen and Sudan armed forces choose an AK platform -Bulgarian Arsenal 5.56 x 45 mm AR-M9 and AR-M9F .The thing to note here is that these rifle are not chambered for 7.62x39mm but the 5.56x45mm and are being used by professional armed forces not some rebel militia.Still UAE which itself produce an ar platform in 5.56x45,choose an AK platform to arm them.My guess is ease of maintenance,their ability to handle abuse,minimum logistics requirements and maybe relatively cheaper prices could be the reason behind the UAE arming these forces with Bulgarian AK over an AR.

View attachment 12925

So why did the UAE choose an AR platform for their Standard issue rifle,maybe because UAE forces does not suffer from lack of proper training or weak logistics support.Once you overcome these two problem then an AR platform is superior to an Ak every other way.


Having said all this ,there is one more interesting case study of Saudi arabia.They don't have any dearth of small arm supply nor the money to buy it.They have been using all types of rifles including g36 and ar platforms.However recently they have shown a shift towards the AK platform by equipping their special forces with AK 103,do note these forces are one of the most well funded around the world.So, what could be the reason about this shift.We can try to link this with Saudi effort to buy Russian influence,but then there are so many big ticket military hardware which they could have bought,but they choose the Russian small arms for themselves.The Saudis have years of experience of operating western small arms and they have no dearth of money. In spite of all this ,their shift towards AK platform is worth noting and would be interesting to know the reasons behind this.There are talks of Saudi opening their own production line of AK with help of Russia,however the deal is not yet finalized,the rifle could be AK 103,AK 203 or AK 15 .So now we have a country whose forces operate in hot adverse conditions and have no dearth of money to buy Gucci kits ,shifting from AR to AK,go figure!
View attachment 12927
View attachment 12928

This is how a SIG 716 Patrol g2 looks like in its standard configuration minus the optic.
View attachment 12929


AK 203 civilian version :
View attachment 12930



View attachment 12932

With scope

View attachment 12933
View attachment 12934

With red dot sight.
View attachment 12935
View attachment 12936

With FAB defense GL core stock and holographic sight.

Some videos :

Personally, I wouldn't place too much credence on the equipment decisions of any Middle-Eastern entity with the exception of Israel (ofcourse) and to an extent Jordan.

Pretty much every deal is political, and I very much doubt the expertise & leadership qualities of the ones in command. Even those of whom are Pakistanis (who are relatively far more competent) are unlikely to weigh in much with procurement decisions of Arabs, as long as they get their cut.

Caracal 816 and Negev NG 7 are done deal,only signing of the deal is left which will be completed in some time.

Both are excellent choice in their respective category,had heard Negev have some reliability issue in hot desert conditions,hope they have overcome that in the NG 7 .Beside this I was wishing for the carbine tender to be cancelled in 5.56x45,and reissued for a 6.5 grendel or 6.8 rifle.Was also wishing for SSS defence to participate in it with their rifle prototype.

I'd be really glad if the PLR Systems JV (now Punj Lloyd stake owned by Adani) actually gets a sizable bulk order from a MoD client for a change. So far their sales have been mostly X95s to MHA users (central & state).

 

[Aniruddha]

Caracal 816 and Negev NG 7 are done deal,only signing of the deal is left which will be completed in some time.

Both are excellent choice in their respective category,had heard Negev have some reliability issue in hot desert conditions,hope they have overcome that in the NG 7 .Beside this I was wishing for the carbine tender to be cancelled in 5.56x45,and reissued for a 6.5 grendel or 6.8 rifle.Was also wishing for SSS defence to participate in it with their rifle prototype.

SSS Defence is going to announce 3 new small arms at the Defence Expo 2020:
1.) New Sniper Rifle for Law enforcement and Military.
2.) 7.62x39 Assault Rifle
3.) PDW Carbine

 

[STEPHEN COHEN]

SSS Defence is going to announce 3 new small arms at the Defence Expo 2020:
1.) New Sniper Rifle for Law enforcement and Military.
2.) 7.62x39 Assault Rifle
3.) PDW Carbine

This Company should try to make 50 Caliber Guns like M 95

50 Caliber is the Real thing much better than
Lapua Magnum 338 caliber

 

[Aniruddha]

This Company should try to make 50 Caliber Guns like M 95

50 Caliber is the Real thing much better than
Lapua Magnum 338 caliber

No one makes 50 BMG ammo in India.
Also 50 BMG is overkill when you are targeting foot soilders.

 

[STEPHEN COHEN]

No one makes 50 BMG ammo in India.
Also 50 BMG is overkill when you are targeting foot soilders.

For Snipers , 50 BMG is better than Lapua

Do we make 338 ammo in India

 

[Aniruddha]

For Snipers , 50 BMG is better than Lapua

Do we make 338 ammo in India

SSS defence has already signed for a JV with a Brazilian ammunition maker to manufacture .308 and .338 ammo in India.

 

[Gautam]

SSS Defence is going to announce 3 new small arms at the Defence Expo 2020:
1.) New Sniper Rifle for Law enforcement and Military.
2.) 7.62x39 Assault Rifle
3.) PDW Carbine

This is new information to me.
This new sniper will be the improved version of the bolt action chasis they built of a new gun from ground up ?
And PDW/Carbine, which caliber was chosen ?

 

[Aniruddha]

This is new information to me.
This new sniper will be the improved version of the bolt action chasis they built of a new gun from ground up ?
And PDW/Carbine, which caliber was chosen ?

The Sniper rifle is probably going to be an all new rifle, different from the previous 2 sniper rifles.
Don't know much about the PDW carbine.
The CEO of SSS Defence, Vivek Krishnan replied to a twitter discussion relating to a tweet on the Ak-203 rifle.

 

[vstol Jockey]

I have personal bias for short stroke rifles though never fired one. Infact short stroke combined with blowback action will greatly reduce the recoil and allow for much superior handling for 7.62x51 rifle.

 

[STEPHEN COHEN]

Having seen the destructive videos of 50 Caliber BMG on YouTube , I must say we need more of them on LOC

Not only we can get Pak Army officers but can kill them inside their Vehicles

 

[Aniruddha]

Having seen the destructive videos of 50 Caliber BMG on YouTube , I must say we need more of them on LOC

Not only we can get Pak Army officers but can kill them inside their Vehicles

Agreed. But a 50 BMG costs north of$8000 and even with a indigenous 50 BMG the cost will be $4000-5000. Plus, each round costa $3. Is the MoD will to pay for these, MoD always looks for "paisa wasool" options.
Also, the recoil and sound is too damn high.

 

[Gautam]

The Sniper rifle is probably going to be an all new rifle, different from the previous 2 sniper rifles.
Don't know much about the PDW carbine.
The CEO of SSS Defence, Vivek Krishnan replied to a twitter discussion relating to a tweet on the Ak-203 rifle.View attachment 13018

There always something nice about a CEO who responds on SM. Well done.

Since he says its a "tactical" sniper rifle I am inclined to believe its a semi auto rifle and not a bolt action. SS Defence has a partnership with the American LMT Defence. LMT supplies the Brits with the L129A1 rifle. This rifle acts as a DMR in British military, maybe we will get to see a India specific model of this gun :

SS-LMT did display the gun in the last Defexpo :

As for the PDW, I pray to God its the LMT Confined Space Weapon(CSW). I've been drooling on it since it came out :

Thank you for the wonderful news. Defexpo2020 is less than a month away. Can't wait.