New, Brawny American Assault Rifles, SIG Sauer 716 for the Indian Army

India has received its first lot of the American SiG Sauer 716 Assault Rifles for the Indian Army. The rifles are expected to assist the Indian Army in fighting terrorists in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Crux of the Matter

1. Indian and USA made a deal for 72,000 SiG716 assault rifles for INR 700 crore under the Fast Track Procurement (FTP) deal. Manufacturer Sig Sauer will supply these rifles within a year of the deal.

2. The arrival of the first lot of 10,000 SiG rifles will assist the Indian Army in carrying out special operations in Jammu & Kashmir.

3. The new rifle will replace the Insas rifle that uses a 5.56x45mm intermediate cartridge. The new cartridge is more brawny with a dimension of 7.62x51mm.

4. Of the 72,000 rifles, 66,000 will be made available to the Indian Army, 2,000 to the Indian Navy, and 4,000 to the Indian Air Force.

5. Besides SiG Sauer Rifles, AK-203 will be manufactured jointly by India and Russia and will be made available to the Indian Army.

Curiopedia

Defence Equipment of India – The 41 Indian Ordnance Factories under control of Ordnance Factories Board manufacture most of the Army equipment like small arms, ammunition, combat vehicles, artillery, tanks etc. Most of the army equipment is of foreign design and produced under licence in India but efforts are on to progressively design and manufacture equipment locally. Small arms supplied by SIG Sauer to India include P226 Handgun, SG550 assault rifle, 716 Patrol G2 battle rifle, SSG 3000 sniper rifle, et al. More info

Curated Coverage

1. ANI – Indian Army gets new American assault rifles in Kashmir Valley against terrorists, Pak Army on LoC

2. India Today – Indian Army received first batch American assault rifles for operations in Jammu and Kashmir

3. Economic Times – Indian Army gets new American assault rifles in Kasmir Valley against terrorists, Pakistan Army on LoC

#Defence #IndianArmy #SIGSauer