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Faulty weapons worth Rs 200 crore given to BSF jawans : North News - India Today
Italian arms major Beretta has agreed to replace faulty weapons supplied by them after they failed at a BSF test fire facility in Gujarat recently.
Last year, the BSF had awarded Beretta a contract of more than 30,000 sub-machine guns at an approximate cost of Rs.200 crore. The first consignment of 17,000 guns was received last September and distributed among BSF personnel on the border to replace INSAS and other rifles.
But documents accessed by Headlines Today suggest there was a major goof-up in the procurement of the consignment. The high- tech MX4 9mm Storm assault rifle failed the test, internal correspondence between the BSF's Gujarat frontier unit to the Delhi-based BSF Headquarters in January. It says that when the sample weapon was test fired, it bulged.
The test fire report suggests that the gun would not only be ineffective in neutralising the enemy, but there are also chances of the barrel of the weapon exploding and causing serious injuries. The document also noted other defects in the sample weapon.
Having discovered the shortcomings during test fire, the BSF's Gujarat frontier unit had sought advice from its headquarters on whether they should dump the weapons.When BSF Headquarters received this communication, senior officers summoned officials from Beretta.
The documents also suggest other serious problems with these guns. Corrosion was found on 113 guns. 164 guns had tool marks and nine guns had machining rings.
When BSF officers informed the arms firm, Beretta had sent a team of experts. BSF DIG Vikas Chandra said Beretta officials visited the test facility in Gujarat and examined the weapons in question. The experts noted what was suspected to be corrosion was lead residue. The officials, however, promised to replace the defective weapons.
Chandra said defects had been noted only from the Gujarat sector so far.
But the question that arises is how the BSF provisioning unit failed to spot the defects. Last year, a DIG- level officer along with his team had visited Italy to clear the consignment. The elite SPG force had also imported the same guns recently, but there were no shortcomings in their consignment.Chandra said it wasn't possible to check each weapon at the time of clearance and if defects are found even at a later stage, corrective steps will be taken.
To watch video
| Video | BSF jawans given defective guns | India Videos | - India Today
Italian arms major Beretta has agreed to replace faulty weapons supplied by them after they failed at a BSF test fire facility in Gujarat recently.
Last year, the BSF had awarded Beretta a contract of more than 30,000 sub-machine guns at an approximate cost of Rs.200 crore. The first consignment of 17,000 guns was received last September and distributed among BSF personnel on the border to replace INSAS and other rifles.
But documents accessed by Headlines Today suggest there was a major goof-up in the procurement of the consignment. The high- tech MX4 9mm Storm assault rifle failed the test, internal correspondence between the BSF's Gujarat frontier unit to the Delhi-based BSF Headquarters in January. It says that when the sample weapon was test fired, it bulged.
The test fire report suggests that the gun would not only be ineffective in neutralising the enemy, but there are also chances of the barrel of the weapon exploding and causing serious injuries. The document also noted other defects in the sample weapon.
Having discovered the shortcomings during test fire, the BSF's Gujarat frontier unit had sought advice from its headquarters on whether they should dump the weapons.When BSF Headquarters received this communication, senior officers summoned officials from Beretta.
The documents also suggest other serious problems with these guns. Corrosion was found on 113 guns. 164 guns had tool marks and nine guns had machining rings.
When BSF officers informed the arms firm, Beretta had sent a team of experts. BSF DIG Vikas Chandra said Beretta officials visited the test facility in Gujarat and examined the weapons in question. The experts noted what was suspected to be corrosion was lead residue. The officials, however, promised to replace the defective weapons.
Chandra said defects had been noted only from the Gujarat sector so far.
But the question that arises is how the BSF provisioning unit failed to spot the defects. Last year, a DIG- level officer along with his team had visited Italy to clear the consignment. The elite SPG force had also imported the same guns recently, but there were no shortcomings in their consignment.Chandra said it wasn't possible to check each weapon at the time of clearance and if defects are found even at a later stage, corrective steps will be taken.
To watch video
| Video | BSF jawans given defective guns | India Videos | - India Today
