Insight: Will small arms ever reach Indian Army hands?
It is quite incredible how much difficulty the Indian Army is having in obtaining new small arms to replace the likes of the INSAS assault rifle, with current requirements for close-quarter battle (CQB) carbines, assault rifles and light machine guns all currently on the go.
A contract for nearly 93,895 CQB carbines is expected soon as the army fast-tracks one of these aforementioned requirements. This is expected to be awarded to Caracal, with the UAE-based company’s 5.56mm CAR 816 rifle being down-selected last year to replace in-service Sterling 9mm submachine guns.
Caracal will be required to produce all the carbines
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