Indian Army strives continuously to provide the serving personnel with the most efficient and dynamic arms. The Indian Army’s recent decision to forego the introduction INDO-RUSSIAN RIFLES AK-203 rifles will undoubtedly prove useful in the long run. The 5.56 45mm Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles that are now in service in the armed forces will be replaced with this assault rifle.
Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) , a rifle manufacturing unit is a joint venture of the Ordnance Factory Board of India and Kalashnikov concern of Russia, will manufacture the AK-203 variant of the Kalashnikov family of rifles. This factory is situated in Korwa, Amethi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from the OFB and KC(Russia), Rosoboronexport holds a minority stake and will be producing 750,000 AK-203s which is a 7.62×39 mm variant from the AK-100 family.
Since the production of the Indo-Russian rifles is yet to start, India signed a deal for the immediate off-the-shelf procurement of 70,000 latest AK series of assault rifles.
WHO OWNS THE IRRPL
Table of Contents
The Indo Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) is a joint venture between three companies namely, The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) that owns the controlling stakes of 50.5%, the Kalashnikov which owns 42% stake, and the Rosonboronexport with 7.5% stake ownership.
The Indian army has appointed Major General Sanjeev Sengar as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.
THE INSIDE STORY
The late 1950s saw the Indian armed forces equipped with a locally-produced copy of the L1A1 SLR (Self Loading Rifles ).
The mid-1980s, a decision was taken to develop a5.56×45mm NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) caliber rifle to replace the obsolete rifles.
1990 saw the adoption of INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) that became the standard-issue assault rifle of Indian infantry.
The less efficient firing of the INSAS led the Indian government to announce the retirement and replacement of the same.
As a feature of the substitution cycle, the new Kalashnikov rifle was to be made in a joint endeavor creation office situated in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. The processing plant produces the AK-203 variation of the Kalashnikov group of rifles, which alongside the SIG716, made by United States-based SIG Sauer will supplant the INSAS rifles just as the AK-47s. The principal clump of 10,000 SIG Sauer rifles was conveyed in December 2019.
PRODUCTION AND PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
The IRRPL has been authorized to deliver 750,000 AK-203 attack rifles loaded for 7.62×39mm. The AK-203 is a modernized 200 series AK-103 variation and one of the cutting-edge subsidiaries of the Russian AK-Pattern series of attack rifles. The 200 series are in fact dependent on the AK-100 family and the more costly AK-12 rifle family.
The AK-203 is accounted for as the most recent and most developed variant of the most plentiful gun on the planet, the AK-47 attack rifle.
During the Defense Expo 2020 in Lucknow, Major General Sengar declared that the IRRPL office in Amethi would create 75,000 AK-203 every year for quite a long span of time.
It was announced that a total of 670,000 AK-203 rifles would be manufactured for the Indian military
Specifications for the AK-203:
- 3.8 kg mass (without accessories and an empty magazine)
- 400 m effective range
- 700 r/min firing rate
- 415 mm barrel length
- Collapsible buttstock
- 943 mm total length and 704 mm with the stock folded
- 30 round standard plastic magazine
For more blogs and details subscribe to blog.majorkalshiclasses.com
