New Delhi: The Army’s quest for close quarters battle (CQB) carbine – a project initiated in 2008 – got a new lease of life this week, when the Defense Ministry gave its nod to the plan. Of these, about four lakh weapons are involved.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the project will provide a major impetus to the small arms manufacturing industry in India and”atmanirbharta“(self-reliance) in short arms.
It added that the project has been granted an Acceptance of Need (AON) to counter “the current complex paradigm of countering conventional and hybrid warfare and counter-terrorism on the borders”.
One aon The first step in any defense procurement process.
While the Defense Minister is silent on whether the procurement will be through the ‘Buy Indian’ category or through The Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) route, sources in the defense and security establishment told ThePrint, would be via the former.
Purchasing through the Buy Indian category would mean that many foreign companies that have or will have joint ventures with Indian firms will participate.
Under IDDM, the competition would have been between only three firms, of which only one would be a private firm.
The sources also said that the potential capability requirement would be 5.56×56 NATO, not 5.56×56 INSAS. While the former is the one used globally, the latter is a slightly different caliber used by India for its INSAS series of rifles, which will be replaced by the AK 203.
It is also learned that the carbine’s weight requirement is likely to be a maximum of 3.2 kg.
companies that will participate
Defense sources said the exact companies to bid for the project will depend on what the request for proposal (RFP), or tender, is called.
Sources said the finer details are yet to be worked out, and it is still unknown whether the participating companies will have to demonstrate a weapon manufactured in India during the trial.
An industry source said: “It would be unfair if foreign companies that have not invested in India are able to showcase the weapons they have. There are foreign companies that have already invested in India and are either manufacturing locally or are in the process.
Defense sources said the key companies in contention would be Bengaluru-based private defense firm SSS Defence, Adani Group’s PLR, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kalyani Group – which has tie-ups with French firm Thales but also defense research and development. Organization (DRDO) – Jindal Group, which has tied up with a Brazilian firm named Taurus and Neco Desert Tech, a joint venture between Indian and American firms.
However, if the deal is opened for non-locally manufactured carbines, more companies will participate on the condition that they establish a manufacturing base in India if they win the contract.
Sources said SSS Defense will offer its indigenously made M72 carbine while PLR is likely to introduce the Galil Ace.
PLR has tied up with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and is already manufacturing various small arms in India.
Sources said the Kalyani group may tie up with DRDO for the project, while OFB will offer its product.
If the competition opens, United Arab Emirates state-owned firm Caracal, which had emerged as the lowest bidder for the now-junk fast-track procurement (FTP), will throw off your hat too, According to sources, the firm was initially in talks for a tie-up with Reliance Defense, but the deal did not materialise.
army carbine saga
The Army is trying to acquire CQB carbine since 2008 to replace its outdated and outdated 9mm British Sterling 1A1 submachine gun that has been in service.
State-owned DRDO and OFB both failed to meet the Army’s requirements at that time, and in 2011 a global tender was floated for the purchase of 44,618 CQB carbines.
While four companies – Israel’s IWI, Italian Beretta, and American firms Colt and Sig Sauer – participated, only IWI qualified as other contenders, which could not meet the qualitative requirements related to night vision mounting systems.
But the Defense Ministry did not go ahead with IWI as it became a single vendor affair, according to the government. Purchase manual is not allowed.
In 2017, a global request for information (RFI) – a process launched to gather information about what is available in the market – 2 lakh was issued for the purchase of carbines, while a separate process was initiated for the purchase of 93,895 under FTP.
It is estimated that taking into account the Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces, the total demand will be more than 5 lakhs.
Caracal emerged as the lowest bidder but had a contract for its CAR 816. run in bad weather on a range of issues including cost and complaints of other bidders.
In 2020, ThePrint informed of That the government had decided to cancel the project completely.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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