The requirement is of 2 lakh light-weight modular carbines with advanced optical sights and laser designators

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11

Even as the Army is scouting for a new assault rifle to replace its existing standard issue firearm, it has projected another requirement of a carbine for a close quarter battle.A request for information issued today reveals that the Army’s requirement is of 2 lakh light-weight modular carbines with advanced optical sights and laser designators, of which 44,000 guns are required immediately.The Army also wants to switch over to the 5.56 mm caliber for the carbine, the same as the existing INSAS assault rifle made by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It earlier used the Sterling 9 mm carbine, which is now obsolete. Broadly put, a carbine is a smaller, lighter version of an assault rifle that is issued to a specific category of troops.It also wants to switch over to a higher caliber for its standard assault rifle, from the 5.56 mm to 7.62 mm. The 5.56 mm bullet is designed to injure rather than kill.  Western armies first started switching over to it in the 1970s with the rationale that an injured soldier would tie down more human and material resources of the enemy than a dead one. The Army began switching from 7.62 mm self-loading rifles to 5.56 mm INSAS in the late 90s. It is now being felt that with increasing involvement in low-intensity conflict and counter-terrorist operations, a more lethal caliber with a higher range and killing power is required.DRDO’s Director General, Armament and Combat Engineering Systems, Pravin K Mehta says the DRDO is not taking up any project to develop a 7.62 mm rifle for the Army. The new rifle is expected to be an imported weapon manufactured in India under collaboration by private firms or the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board.The OFB, which has also issued an expression of interest inviting partnership from firms to manufacture modern 7.62 mm rifle, had come up with a weapon based on the AK-47 design.