Setback for 'Make in India': Army rejects poor quality assault rifles

This comes even as the Army has rejected the indigenous rifle developed by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) which is now undergoing trials.

As per media reports, there were "excessive number of faults" in the guns and to consider the guns to be used by the Indian Army a "complete redesigning of the magazine" was needed.

At the same time, Army had rejected an earlier indigenous rifle called the Excalibur past year.

Apart from the AK-47s, Indian soldiers use INSAS, which are made in India.

The OFB assault rifle is reported to have failed to perform efficiently during the trial run.

"Can we not make India self-reliant in defence sector?"

Meanwhile, officials from the Army, the Air Force and the Navy are planning to discuss the procurement of assault rifles for the forces and the specifications required. The 5.56 mm Excalibur guns were rejected previous year over quality standards.

They further quoted sources as saying that safety mechanisms were also problematic with the rifle which had an "excessive number of faults and stoppages (during trials) to the extent of more than twenty times the maximum permissible standards".

Demonstration firing of the 7.62 x 51 mm rifle, made by the Rifle Factory Ichapore, Kolkata, took place on 13 and 14 June.

The Army has rejected an indigenously built assault rifle for second year in a row citing poor quality and ineffective fire power. Following this, the Army's project management team said the gun was "only a prototype that requires comprehensive design analysis and improvement".

The 5.56 mm rifle, which was meant to replace the INSAS, reportedly failed to meet the firepower requirement as demanded by the ground forces, which compelled the forces to reject it.

Make in India is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet campaign under which he wants to transform India into a manufacturing hub.