Infantry weapons are considered one of the prime requirements of a nation's armed forces without which ground wars cannot be won and pitched battles with terrorists cannot be taken to a logical conclusion. Since times immemorial, mainstay weapons of armed forces have been helping nations meet their basic security needs and handle the emerging tactical challenges in the battlefield. As the fourth-largest standing army in the world, the Indian Army's requirements for meeting its operational requirements are significantly large. While the budgetary constraints being faced by the government is quite understandable, the Indian Army needs to undergo a massive infantry weapons modernisation drive at the earliest. Starting with automatic assault rifles, shoulder-fired rocket launchers, sniper rifles, pistols, carbines, Under-Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL) and ending with Light Machine Guns (LMG), the Indian Army requires brand new assault weapons for replacing the ageing Soviet-era vintage tools currently being used in all spheres of operational deployment.
The urge for newer assault rifles
Assault rifles are one of the most crucial infantry weapons being used by soldiers in the battlefield. Starting with close quarter engagements in an asymmetric warfare environment and ending with long range direct line of sight (LRDLOS) firing during infantry sweeps towards the enemy during wars, the assault rifle remains the standard issue weapon of the ground soldier. While India decided to phase out the L1A1 Self Loading Rifles (SLR) and the highly obsolete LeeEnfield bolt-action rifles during the early 1990s, more than 100,000 AKM rifles were inducted into the Indian Army as a stop-gap measure till the advent of INSAS (Indian National Small Arms System) weapons in the late 1990s.
This story is from the January 2022 edition of Geopolitics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2022 edition of Geopolitics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Lessons From Gaza And Lebanon
The ongoing war, loosely called the Gaza War, is actually being fought in two different loosely connected segments; against the Hamas with a spill off in the West Bank and East Jerusalem areas against Palestinian factions and against the Hezbollah in Lebanon with a spill off in Syria. Treating Israel-Hamas War and the Lebanon War as separate entities, RAJ MEHTA explains the lessons from these wars
POSITIVE STEPS TOWARDS POTENTIAL REGIONAL COOPERATION
It has been a whirlwind of diplomatic activity for India recently. India participated in both the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO) summit that took place in Islamabad on October 15-16, and the 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, Russia, from October 2224, 2024. These back-to-back summits within a short span of time underscore India's active role in shaping regional and global diplomacy, balancing national interests with multilateral cooperation
THE EAGLE'S EYE TEJAS MK-II RADAR PIERCES VEIL OF THE SKY
The Tejas Mk-II, featuring DRDO's GaN-based Uttam AESA radar, marks a major leap in India's defence, enhancing range, precision, and multi-target tracking capabilities, highlights GIRISH LINGANNA
PRIME MOVER
The indigenously developed Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) has received a boost with its first export order from the Kingdom of Morocco
TRANSFORMATIONAL INDUCTION
The GA-ASI MQ-9B will dramatically enhance the ISR and precision strike capabilities of the Indian armed forces
TACAN PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
Navigation systems have evolved significantly since the Viking era, with Tactical Air Navigation TACAN) now widely used for air and sea travel. Post-World War Il, reliable systems became essential for safety and efficiency, as highlighted by DR. SUJAN KUMAR SARASWATI, in this article on TACAN’s operational principles.
AIRBORNE TRACKER
Indigenous efforts towards AEW&C and AWACS platforms need to be stepped up even as international programmes extend the current state-of-the-art for such aircraft, highlights
AFFORDABLE LETHALITY THE INDIAN DILEMMA
India's defence dilemma is now being complicated by the lessons learnt in the Ukraine and Gaza wars because these conflicts are reshaping the way wars are fought in the modern world.
FROM IMPORTS TO SELF-RELIANCE IN ARMS
Self-reliance in Defence Production needs new ideas, new definitions _es and an appropriate methodology, argues AMIT COWSHISH
"THE INDIAN AIR FORCE IS WORKING HARD TO REMAIN A CREDIBLE AIR FORCE"
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 21, 1984, Air Chief Marshal AMAR PREET SINGH PVSM AVSM took over as the 28th Air Chief of India on September 30, 2024.
