New Delhi: Russia has delivered to India all the contracted 70,000 AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles as envisaged under a contract signed late last summer between India and Kalashnikov. The entire delivery was made earlier this week.
The AK-203 is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, select-fire assault rifle designed to chamber 7.62×39mm cartridge. It is one of the latest iterations of the AK series of assault rifles originally designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. The AK-203 is a prototype Russian assault rifle developed in the 2010s.
The Indian Ministry of Defence intends to procure 670,000 AK-203 assault rifles, and the 70,000 delivered are part of that total. The rest of all 600,000 will be manufactured in India’s Amethi under a joint venture contract, which was signed on December 6, 2021.
As part of India’s localization of defense manufacturing, a special purpose Joint Venture called Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd (IRRPL) has been created for the production of 600,000 AK 203 in India. Joint Venture is between India, represented by the Defence PSUs-Advanced Weapons & Equipment India Limited (AWEIL) & Munitions India Limited (MIL), and Russia, represented by Rosoboronexport (RoE) & Concern Kalashnikov (CK).
The 7.62 X 39mm caliber AK-203 Rifles will replace in-service INSAS Rifle inducted over three decades back. AK-203 Assault Rifles have an effective range of 300 meters are lightweight and are seen as easy to use Modern Assault Rifles.
(_Vinayak)
