Insight: Will small arms ever reach Indian Army hands?

26th January 2019 - 10:00 GMT | by Gordon Arthur in Hong Kong

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It is quite incredible how much difficulty the Indian Army is having in obtaining new small arms to replace the likes of the INSAS assault rifle, with current requirements for close-quarter battle (CQB) carbines, assault rifles and light machine guns all currently on the go.

A contract for nearly 93,895 CQB carbines is expected soon as the army fast-tracks one of these aforementioned requirements. This is expected to be awarded to Caracal, with the UAE-based company’s 5.56mm CAR 816 rifle being down-selected last year to replace in-service Sterling 9mm submachine guns.

Caracal will be required to produce all the carbines

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Author

Gordon Arthur

Gordon Arthur was the Asia Pacific editor for Shephard Media. Born in Scotland and educated …

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