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Home Minister P. Chidambaram has mooted the creation of a centralised procurement board for buying small arms for the paramilitary forces. A miffed Chidambaram is understood to have suggested this after reports of deviations from tender norms surfaced in acquisitions of firearms by two paramilitary forces.
In March, the Border Security Force (BSF) signed a contract with Italian gun maker Beretta for buying 68,000 submachine guns worth over Rs 400 crore. The size of the deal raised eyebrows because few had heard of the Beretta weapon. Late last year, its sister service, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), signed an order for the purchase of 12,000 X-95 Tavor carbines from Israel costing over Rs 1 lakh apiece. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Generous modernisation budgets after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mean that India's military, paramilitary and police personnel will import small arms worth over $3 billion (Rs 13,500 crore). Most of these imports of weapons performing similar security roles will be from different global arms manufacturers with nothing in common in terms of ammunition, spares and training. "In a few years, India is going to resemble a salad bowl of assorted weaponry, says a senior police official. The Mumbai police's Force One commandos, raised after the 26/11, have four different types of weapons-Colt M-4 carbines from the US, Brugger and Thomet submachine guns from Switzerland, MP-5 submachine guns from Germany and AK-47 variants from eastern Europe.
The force is already believed to have a problem importing ammunition for all these weapons, one of the dangers of such a diverse menagerie. "The US army is talking about inter-operability (similar weapons, ammunition) of weapons across continents, we are unable to achieve inter-operability even between our security forces," says Lieutenant General (retd) P.C. Katoch.
The Indian Army has begun looking for new carbines (a shorter version of an assault rifle) and assault rifles to replace its obsolete weaponry. A lip-smacking treat of over $2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) for foreign arms companies eyeing a piece of the action awaits.
In India, little research goes into buying such weapons. There are virtually no experts who can study or evaluate small arms. The sole evaluating agency is the army's School of Infantry in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, which the army uses for its own requirements. Army officials call for an apex government body comprising users and technical experts from various services. "They should evaluate weapons and recommend induction for all security forces," says an army officer. This is along the lines of what the home minister has suggested for the paramilitary forces.
"Despite fighting insurgency for over two decades, the army has not conducted a comprehensive analysis of firefights with militants or any research into the type of weapons or bullets required," admits a senior army official. Most reports filed by individual field officers after encounters disappear into military-bureaucratic black holes in Delhi. A few years ago, an officer questioned the lethality of the new special forces' Tavor assault rifles bought from Israel. A group of militants ambushed by the army got away with injuries. The report was quietly buried. Importing weapons means the nation is at the mercy of foreign vendors for spares and ammunition. Austria and Germany have refused to let their firms supply weapons to Indian states like Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra citing human rights violations.
The larger problem, say officials, is the utter lack of communication between the designer, manufacturer and user. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the OFB and the army function in silos, not talking to each other. Faulty ammunition made by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is another major cause of weapons malfunctioning in combat, but again, little thought is paid to improving quality. The DRDO's new MSMC compact carbine has the ability to address requirements of the army, police and paramilitary forces but is wrestling with weight and performance issues.
Army officials say at 4 kg, the weapon is too heavy; the DRDO says it will improve subsequent variants. The weapon undergoes final trials this month but is several years away from mass production. Meanwhile the Home Ministry is importing thousands of AK-47 variants from Bulgarian arms manufacturer Arsenal Inc. A home ministry official says the Bulgarian-made AK costs just Rs 22,000, Rs 5000 less than the indigenous INSAS rifle. The irony is hard to miss. A nation self-sufficient in making ballistic missiles imports assault rifles from eastern Europe.
DRDO Delays
This month, the Army is to conduct final trials of the DRDO's Modern Submachine Carbine (MSMC).
In development for close on to a decade, it struggled with weight and performance issues. The weight has now dropped to an acceptable 3.1kg and a reliability of 99.4 per cent (3 stoppages for every 1,000 rounds fired) but the Army wants it to reach 99.7 per cent. The Army will buy 2.18 lakh of the carbines for Rs 2,183 crore if the MSMC passes the test.
The police and paramilitary are set to follow. The MSMC could potentially end the small arms confusion and put a stop to imports. The onus now lies with the DRDO to prove it can deliver.
Indian forces face small arms shortage : NATION: India Today
In March, the Border Security Force (BSF) signed a contract with Italian gun maker Beretta for buying 68,000 submachine guns worth over Rs 400 crore. The size of the deal raised eyebrows because few had heard of the Beretta weapon. Late last year, its sister service, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), signed an order for the purchase of 12,000 X-95 Tavor carbines from Israel costing over Rs 1 lakh apiece. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Generous modernisation budgets after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mean that India's military, paramilitary and police personnel will import small arms worth over $3 billion (Rs 13,500 crore). Most of these imports of weapons performing similar security roles will be from different global arms manufacturers with nothing in common in terms of ammunition, spares and training. "In a few years, India is going to resemble a salad bowl of assorted weaponry, says a senior police official. The Mumbai police's Force One commandos, raised after the 26/11, have four different types of weapons-Colt M-4 carbines from the US, Brugger and Thomet submachine guns from Switzerland, MP-5 submachine guns from Germany and AK-47 variants from eastern Europe.
The force is already believed to have a problem importing ammunition for all these weapons, one of the dangers of such a diverse menagerie. "The US army is talking about inter-operability (similar weapons, ammunition) of weapons across continents, we are unable to achieve inter-operability even between our security forces," says Lieutenant General (retd) P.C. Katoch.
The Indian Army has begun looking for new carbines (a shorter version of an assault rifle) and assault rifles to replace its obsolete weaponry. A lip-smacking treat of over $2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) for foreign arms companies eyeing a piece of the action awaits.
In India, little research goes into buying such weapons. There are virtually no experts who can study or evaluate small arms. The sole evaluating agency is the army's School of Infantry in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, which the army uses for its own requirements. Army officials call for an apex government body comprising users and technical experts from various services. "They should evaluate weapons and recommend induction for all security forces," says an army officer. This is along the lines of what the home minister has suggested for the paramilitary forces.
"Despite fighting insurgency for over two decades, the army has not conducted a comprehensive analysis of firefights with militants or any research into the type of weapons or bullets required," admits a senior army official. Most reports filed by individual field officers after encounters disappear into military-bureaucratic black holes in Delhi. A few years ago, an officer questioned the lethality of the new special forces' Tavor assault rifles bought from Israel. A group of militants ambushed by the army got away with injuries. The report was quietly buried. Importing weapons means the nation is at the mercy of foreign vendors for spares and ammunition. Austria and Germany have refused to let their firms supply weapons to Indian states like Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra citing human rights violations.
The larger problem, say officials, is the utter lack of communication between the designer, manufacturer and user. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the OFB and the army function in silos, not talking to each other. Faulty ammunition made by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is another major cause of weapons malfunctioning in combat, but again, little thought is paid to improving quality. The DRDO's new MSMC compact carbine has the ability to address requirements of the army, police and paramilitary forces but is wrestling with weight and performance issues.
Army officials say at 4 kg, the weapon is too heavy; the DRDO says it will improve subsequent variants. The weapon undergoes final trials this month but is several years away from mass production. Meanwhile the Home Ministry is importing thousands of AK-47 variants from Bulgarian arms manufacturer Arsenal Inc. A home ministry official says the Bulgarian-made AK costs just Rs 22,000, Rs 5000 less than the indigenous INSAS rifle. The irony is hard to miss. A nation self-sufficient in making ballistic missiles imports assault rifles from eastern Europe.
DRDO Delays
This month, the Army is to conduct final trials of the DRDO's Modern Submachine Carbine (MSMC).
In development for close on to a decade, it struggled with weight and performance issues. The weight has now dropped to an acceptable 3.1kg and a reliability of 99.4 per cent (3 stoppages for every 1,000 rounds fired) but the Army wants it to reach 99.7 per cent. The Army will buy 2.18 lakh of the carbines for Rs 2,183 crore if the MSMC passes the test.
The police and paramilitary are set to follow. The MSMC could potentially end the small arms confusion and put a stop to imports. The onus now lies with the DRDO to prove it can deliver.
Indian forces face small arms shortage : NATION: India Today
