The first 35,000 AK-203 rifles have been delivered to the Indian Army under an Indo-Russian joint venture in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally, this comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia on Monday next.
More than 700,000 rifles are to be manufactured in India as part of the joint venture, Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited, established between the Indian Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kalashnikov Concern, and Rosoboronexport — both subsidiaries of the Rostec State Corporation. Production in India-based unit started last year. Prime Minister Modi had inaugurated the factory in 2019.
Announcing the delivery, Rosoboronexport said it has “produced and transferred” the rifles to the defence ministry and with this the first phase of the project has been completed. A few of the AK-203, a version of the original AK-200 rifle chambered for the 7.62X39 mm cartridge, was bought off the shelf last year and handed to the Indian military, sources said. As per the roadmap, an initial lot of 70,000 rifles are to be “Made in India” with less indigenous content. The first batch of 5,000 rifles had only 5 percent indigenous components, which will increase to 70 percent when the initial lot of 70,000 is completed in 32 months, sources said.
The idea is to have rifles made of 100 percent indigenous components over a period of 128 months.
“The AK-203s are manufactured in India in compliance with exclusive Russian technologies on certified equipment.
This ensures high product quality and compliance with the states’ characteristics,” the Russian statement had said.
These rifles will replace the 5.56×45 mm INSAS (Indian Small Arms System), which has been in use for over two decades and outrun its utility. Compared to the AK-103, which was originally meant for joint production, the AK-203 comes with collapsible stock that can be adjusted to the shooter’s height.
The rifles also come with a safety mechanism that enables a soldier not to lose contact with the grip when changing firing modes during operation.
