Over 29000 AK-47s procured for India's paramilitary forces

http://http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Over-29000-AK-47s-procured-for-Indias-paramilitary-forces/articleshow/13312663.cms

NEW DELHI: AK-47s continue to be the preferred assault weapon for the country's paramilitary forces deployed to neutralise terrorists and Maoists at the frontiers and in the hinterland.

Over 29,000 pieces of this Russian-origin rifle were imported by forces like CRPF, BSF and NSG over the last three years, leaving behind, by a large margin, other sophisticated assault weapons procured from the US and Israel.

The inventory of the assault weapons procured for security forces, including ITBP, CISF and Assam Rifles, during 2010-2013 show that while 29,260 pieces of the 'AK' series were procured, only 17,609 units of other weapons in this category like X-95 and SIG were imported.

While the Central Reserve Police Force, deployed extensively in the country for anti-Naxal operations procured 18,000 AK-47s, the Central Industrial Security Force guarding Indian airports got 7,921 pieces and the Sashastra Seema Bal securing borders along Nepal and Bhutan got 2,719 units.

The China-India border guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police procured 620 pieces of these 'Avtomat Kalashnikova' (AK) rifles.

"The AK series rifles are still the best in terms of use and adaptability for Indian security forces personnel. Be it any domain of combat operations like anti-Maoist or counter-terror operations, this weapon has delivered good results," a senior security official said.

With the advent of new technology and new dynamics of combat, the country's security establishment has also imported other modern variants of assault rifles.

So while the CRPF got 6,382 pieces of X-95 for its troops in Maoist operations, the elite National Security Guard (NSG) got 675 pieces of the Swiss-make SIG assault rifles.

"There have not been many assault weapons that suit the Indian conditions and the forces. Also, the role of the internal security forces is essentially to combat and not assault. So, a specialist counter-terror force like NSG also uses sub-machine guns like MP5 and Glock pistols for fighting from close quarters," a NSG official explained.

The security forces, through the Union Home Ministry, procured the AK-47s from Bulgaria while the X-95s are procured from Israel.

Among the other weapons that these forces procured during the same fiscals are MP-5 guns from Heckler and Koch (Germany), Carbine machine guns (Storm) from Beretta (Italy) and Glock Pistols from Hong Kong and Austria.

We still procure "AK-47s" ?

Long live the Ak's

Why whats wrong with a rifle that is known for it's stopping power?
What's wrong with a rifle that is never known to jam?
Whats wrong with a rifle that is both cheap and robust

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When there is a desi AK 47, why do we still need to import the guns from a foreign country.
God save India

Also it seems our enemy is supplying us with weapons for defense

Exactly what occurred to me when I saw the headline.

Desi AK-7 are only suited for Indian police, and not suitable for Combat nor assault, only show put up behind the neta's and babus..

And how so?

Are you telling that the most reliable assault rifle cannot be used by a well trained force?

i think with the introduction of trichy assault rifles this these imports will stop to a large extent.also 29000 is not a large no. compared to a million man paramilitary forces.

Imported AK's are cheaper & has better quality compared to OFB products for sure. Why should they buy costly + low quality product just bcas its made in India ?

Now you know why I facepalmed.

Not because they are Aks..but because we still procure them instead of making them here.

what happened to our very own TAR?i thought that finally our OFB has made a good AR(which is a hibrid of the M-16 and AK-47).so why isn't our govt. mass produce these ARs!it would be much cheaper than importing foreign made AK series AR.btw whats the current status of Trichy AR?

Trichy AR looks good..

God knows, How its going..



Btw, AKM / AK-47 are reliable AR, And 7.62M43 have good killing ratio and can be handled in burst fire, Perfect against Tangos and Naxals..

I think we should put our hands off from AK47 as it has higher recoil and less accuracy.
I agree that ak47 is robust but its sisters are robust as well like ak74 and derivatives pluse it has good improvement in accuracy......

In morden world spreing bullets are the work of terrorist who dont have perticular enemy or who sees everybody as enemy..... but professional force like ours need accuracy and stoping power.