Indian MoD Procuring New Assault Rifles to Replace Aging INSAS

indian army insas rifle shooting — Lance Naik (Lance Cpl.) Fateh Singh, a member of the 4th Rajput Battalion, Indian Army, confirms the zero of his INSAS assault rifle during training held with members of 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment at Donnelly Training Area.

Standard issue INSAS (Indian National Small Arms Systems) assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45 mm.

India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)—the group in charge of procurement within the country’s Ministry of Defence—has approved a plan to manufacture new assault rifles to replace its 5.56×45mm INSAS. The plan also calls for the procurement of new sniper rifles and light machine guns.

INSAS Replacement

According to a statement from the Indian MoD, the terms of the deal specify that 7.40 lakh, or 740,000 assault rifles, be acquired at a cost of Rs 12,280 crore, or $1.9 billion. The rifles are to be manufactured in India by the state-run Ordnance Factory Board and private industry. All three services—the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force—will be getting the rifles. The INSAS, or Indian New Small Arms System, was first introduced back in the ’90s.

New Sniper Rifles & LMGs

Additionally, the DAC also gave the thumbs up to new sniper rifles. There will be 5,719 of these made for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force at a cost of Rs 982 crore, or $153 million. DefenseNews says India is therefore looking at foreign companies to offer off-the-shelf options here, including Colt, Beretta, CZ, Russia’s Rosoboronexport and IWI. According to MoD, the ammunition for these rifles will be initially procured and subsequently manufactured in India.

The DAC has fast-tracked the procurement of LMGs for the three services at a cost of Rs 1,819 crore. This translates to $280 million. Though the exact number of LMGs isn’t mentioned in the presser, the Times of India puts it at 16,500.

“This procurement will meet the operational requirement of the troops deployed on the borders,” the MoD statement reads. “A concurrent proposal is being processed for the balance quantity to be procured under the ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ categorisation.”

The total value of the procurement, which also includes new torpedo decoy systems for the Navy—is Rs 15,935 crore, or $2.5 billion.

Last month, the DAC approved the procurement of 72,400 assault rifles and 93,895 close-quarter battle (CQB) carbines at a cost of Rs 3,547 crore, the Times of India reported.

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