India to buy guns worth $553m for border troops

[Shahzaz ud din]

India to buy guns worth $553m for border troops
AFP | Published — Tuesday 16 January 2018

Four Pakistani soldiers killed in Indian fire across tense Kashmir frontier

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  Kashmir border violence kills nine

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  Indian, Pakistani troops exchange fire across military control line in Kashmir (Source: Xinhua)

NEW DELHI: India will buy more than 160,000 guns worth $553 million for troops on its disputed, high-altitude borders, the defense ministry said on Tuesday.
The defense acquisition council cleared the purchase of 72,400 assault rifles and 93,895 carbines for 35 billion rupees ($553 million) in a meeting chaired by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The weapons will be bought to “enable the defense forces to meet their immediate requirement for the troops deployed on the borders,” the ministry said in a statement.
New Delhi has signed several big-ticket defense deals since Prime Minister Narendra Modi stormed to power in 2014.
India — the world’s largest defense importer — has been investing tens of billions in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing territorial disputes with its nuclear-armed neighbors China and Pakistan.
India and China fought a brief war in 1962 over their border and last year were involved in a months-long showdown over a disputed Himalayan plateau.
India is also mired in conflict in the Himalayan region of Kashmir where roughly 500,000 soldiers are deployed.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of sending “terrorists” across the border — one of the most heavily militarised in the world — to fight security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947, with both claiming the territory in its entirety.
India has fought three wars against Pakistan, two of them over the control of Kashmir.

 

[Gufi]

NEW DELHI: India will buy more than 160,000 guns worth $553 million for troops on its disputed, high-altitude borders, the defense ministry said on Tuesday.

Is this going to be another tender? Or will it be a government to government deal instead....

 

[#hydra#]

Any info on front running gun systems?

 

[KapitaanAli]

Is this going to be another tender? Or will it be a government to government deal instead....

The "carbine" will be INSAS 1C, if we follow logic.
The AR waits to be seen, since this is a fast track procurement. I don't think it will be a tender.

 

[Gufi]

The AR waits to be seen, since this is a fast track procurement. I don't think it will be a tender.

Yes, ToT is a given at that number of weapons whichever country orders so should be relatively quick unless new trials are called which will mean another 5 year.

 

[KapitaanAli]

Yes, ToT is a given at that number of weapons whichever country orders so should be relatively quick unless new trials are called which will mean another 5 year.

I don't think there will be ToT. The actual requirement is 8 lakh AR and 4 lakh carbines. So this is just a fraction being procured in emergency.

So this will just be IWI ACE or INSAS 1C for carbine and some global 7.62 for AR (Army already knows which one).

Later for the proper procurement, it will be INSAS 1C for carbine and some global 7.62 or OFB 7.62 for AR.
The AR will involve ToT provided it's not the OFB 7.62 that wins.
If OFB 7.62 wins, everything will be homemade, carbine and AR. It's currently at 98% consistency against the requested 99%.

It will make sense to have ToT for this FTP only if the future carbine is ACE (It won't be. It will be the INSAS) or if the AR chosen for this FTP will be the future AR.
The AR part is a possibility, but this will be scandalous.

 

[Han Patriot]

INSAS again? You guys are praying so hard IA will buy at least some Indian arms to save face.