The Army expects to sign contracts to procure 72,400 assault rifles and 93,895 close quarter battle (CQB) carbines by May next year. After several failed attempts, the acquisition process began again this year through the fast-track procurement (FTP) route in which a U.S. firm has emerged as the lowest bidder for assault rifles and a UAE firm for carbines.
Sig Sauer of the U.S. has emerged the lowest bidder with a quote of around $990 for the SIG 716 rifle. Caracal from the UAE made the lowest bid of around $1150 for its CAR 816 carbine.
“The bids have been opened and contract negotiations are under way, which are expected to be completed in two weeks’ time. The final contracts are expected to be signed by May next year,” a defence source said.
DAC approval
In January, the Defence Acquisition Council had approved the procurement of 72,400 assault rifles and 93,895 carbines for ₹3,547 crore on a fast track basis. Of these, a small quantity is meant for the Navy and the Air Force. The assault rifles will be of 7.62mm calibre while the carbines will be of 5.56mm calibre.
In July, an empowered committee headed by a Brigadier visited the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in five countries to evaluate the assault rifles and carbines.
In FTP, there is no elaborate general staff evaluation and the entire process is expected to be completed in a year. The evaluation is based on operational requirements. The deliveries have to start within one year of signing of the contract.
The broad parameters for the assault rifle are an effective range of 500 m and weight of less than 3 kg. For the carbine, it should be 200 m and 2 kg.
These are only a small part of the small arms requirement of the Army. The new assault rifles will replace INSAS (Indian National Small Arms System) rifles in use and are meant for troops deployed in forward and counter insurgency areas.