Small Arms & Tactical Equipment

Indian Army Orders an Additional 73,000 SIG716 Rifles​


NEWINGTON, N.H., (August 26, 2024) – SIG SAUER, Inc., is honored to announce a second procurement contract with the Government of India, Ministry of Defence to supply an additional 73,000 SIG716 rifles. When completed, 145,400 SIG716 rifles will be in service with the Indian Army.

“We are proud to be a partner in the modernization effort of the Indian Army, and prouder still that the SIG716 rifle achieves the Ministry of Defence’s modernization goals with the second largest army in the world,” began Ron Cohen, President and CEO, SIG SAUER, Inc.

The Government of India, Ministry of Defence first awarded SIG SAUER a contract for the SIG716 in 2019 for 72,400 riles. The successful fielding and overwhelming soldier acceptance led to this follow-on award for an additional 73,000 rifles.

“Since the initial fielding of the SIG716, we have received phenomenal end-user feedback on the performance and reliability of the platform. Throughout this time, we have strengthened and further solidified our partnership with the Indian Ministry of Defence and are honored to earn their continued trust equiping their frontline infantrymen.”

The SIG716 is an enhanced AR platform chambered in 7.62 NATO featuring a 16-inch barrel, M-LOK™ handguard, and a 6-position telescoping stock. SIG SAUER designs and builds the SIG716 rifles for the Indian Army and for all of its customers in the United States.
 
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View attachment SMPP_helmet.mp4
 
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The Indian Army has got the delivery of country's first domestically developed sub-machine guns - ASMI - designed, developed and manufactured in less than three years.
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This is a major achievement for Hyderabad-based Lokesh Machines Limited that delivered the order of 550 9x19 mm submachine guns (SMGs) Asmi to the Northern Command of the Indian Army. The company had secured the order worth Rs 4.26 crore from the Northern Command in mid June.
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The National Security Guard (NSG), Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) have also received pilot lots of ASMI and have expressed interest in further deployment.
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https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/i...performs-israels-uzi-german-mp5-12833163.html
 
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Gautam said:
Army's acquisition of 550 units of 9x19mm SMGs has entered second phase.

The initial participants were the following:

1. DEPL-Tanfoglio CBR-9/TCMP:
View attachment 32415
Italian firm Tanfoglio did at JV to market their SMG in India. No idea if manufacturing &/or assembly in India was on the table.

2. PLR Systems - IWI UZI Pro:
View attachment 32417
The IWI UZI is already in IA's service in good quantity. The UZI Pro is an improved variant of the original. PLR Systems makes the gun in India from raw material stage.

3. SSS Defence - G72 9mm SMG:
View attachment 32416
SSS Defence G72 SMG is a completely new product. Not much is known of this gun except the caliber. The only pic we have is the one above. This gun is still a work in progress than an actual product. SSSD will probably pitch this as a product tailor made for the IA, of course IA has to pay for its development.

4. Vinveli Automated Systems - CZUB CZ Scorpion:
View attachment 32418
Another JV. This time the OEM is from the Czech Republic. this JV has supplied some other rifles to some police units.

4. Optic Electronic - B&T MP-9:
View attachment 32419
The MP-9 is already used by IA, PARAs, NSG, Ghatak platoons etc. As with many other Swiss product, this too is incredibly expensive. I doubt local assembly will help reduce prices.

5. Jindal Defence - Taurus T9:
View attachment 32420
The Brazilian company just recently started production in India with their Indian partner. Their pistols for the civilian market have started arriving on stores.

6. IA-ARDE-LML - ASMI 9x19mm MP:
View attachment 32421
Other than the G-72, this is the only domestic player in this competition. Ironically much of its design was done by an Army officer to address the short falls of the UZI & the MP-9.

As of now, all but the last 2 participants have been disqualified in the technical evaluation stage. The last 2 are headed for financial evaluation.

I've made a chart comparing the 2 guns using publicly available information. I've used a bit of speculation too. I've marked in green the specs I thought were superior & in red the ones I thought were inferior. This is not a definitive comparison but a good rule of thumb:
View attachment 32422

ASMI seems to come out on top. There are other important details that I have avoided. Like cost of the gun, where ASMI would be better any day. The winner of this contest should be a no-brainer. But we all know that's not how arms procurement works in this country.

I'll attach a video of the ASMI below:

Click to expand...

From Sandeep Unnithan's twitter:
View attachment SSS-Defence_guns.mp4

SSS Defence's G-72 SMG makes another appearance:
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The 1st variant had a larger buttstock than this current one:
SSSDefence_G-72_SMG.jpeg
 
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