India Gets First Batch of AK-203 Assault Rifles from Russia to Meet 'Urgent Operational Requirement'

In December, Moscow agreed to give Delhi the means to produce 600,000 AK-203 assault rifles to replace the India-developed INSAS rifles used by its army.

Russia has delivered 70,000 AK-203 assault rifles to India to meet the "urgent operational requirement" of the Indian armed forces. In total, Delhi will eventually have 600,000 rifles at its disposal.

“A shipment of ready-to-use AK-203 rifles has been delivered as per schedule under the fast-track procurement deal,” sources told Sputnik.

The arms delivery is part of a deal signed between the Indian Defence Ministry and Indo-Russian Private Limited (IRPL) on 19 August 2021. Indo-Russian Private Limited is a joint venture formed in early 2019 to licence-build 601,427 AK-203s for the Indian military.

The AK will replace the indigenously-developed Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) 5.56x45mm assault rifles that have been used by the Indian Army since the mid-1990s. In 2010, the latter was declared "operationally inadequate" by Delhi following the finding of several design flaws.

The IRPL will be manufacturing the guns at the Korwa facility in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the facility in 2019 and signed the contract worth $690 million for more than 600,000 rifles.