INSAS Indian Small Arms System

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Soham

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I do not think there is any doubt in the lethality of this gun(As the Brigadier has clarified). If there lies any fault, its in the cumbersomeness of the rifle with its massive weight.

I would also agree with Prada's initial post, that we should brand the Army as haters of indigenous goods. They select what is best for them after careful weighted analysis. They have their reasons which cannot be ignored. Nobody hates DRDO or these rifles. I do not know enough about the details of these rifles, and I don't think watching youtubes can give us some, therefore I would refrain from passing a judgmental comment.
 

mattster

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Here is the issue: Almost every major Assault Rifle(AR) manufacturer in the world of any kind of international reputation is a private company that is publicly listed and run by a professional management.

Why cant DRDO spin off the division that makes INSAS AR. Why does India have to be one of the few countries in the world to have a government agency develop ARs.

An AR is not such a high-tech item that requires billions of dollars in R & D that requires massive government support or hand-holding. Small Arms manufacturing is not really a field for government run companies - it should be in the private sector space. Look at Singapore Technologies Kinetic of a dinky little country like Singapore.

If the MOD were to open up the manufacture of ARs and small arms to private companies, then private companies can either license technology from the major AR makers in the world or develop their own and India would have a couple of privately run for profit companies that produce a range of small arms like ARs and Pistols, etc.

The government could provide financial, tax and even land as incentives for the private companies that want to invest their money in this field. They could even provide some initial financial seed money for R & D until the companies can stand on their own 2 feet and just be an investor in a public company

I just dont understand why Indians need to reinvent the goddamn wheel all the time.
Cant anything be learnt from studying how other countries do it ??
 
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nitesh

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If see correctly the fault is not of DRDO it's more to do with OFB union s and politicians :)
 

p2prada

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I would also agree with Prada's initial post, that we should brand the Army as haters of indigenous goods.
Thanks for the support. However, shouldn't you add the word "not" after "should." :D
 

Armand2REP

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So what happens to F-INSAS if INSAS isn't going to be the future assault rifle?
 

Rahul Singh

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here is something from my previous post
defence ministry to task for a three-year delay in fulfilling army plans to re-equip all its formations with indigenously developed 5.56 mm small arm system. "the army's plan was to equip all its forces with these light arms by 1998 and ordinance factories supplied only 2.75 lakh rifles and light machine guns as on march 2000," cag said in its latest report tabled in parliament. army officials said the light machine gun from the insas series had been put through user trials from november 1987 to april 1992 and cleared for troop trials which also were completed by 1995. army served a bulk order production in 1997 subject to carrying out modification in carrying handle,mount for optical sight, pistol grip and locking pin.
Is that not active Participation ?
This is the story of before induction of the rifle, and even after induction when it faced problems due to quality control army got it fixed that is also active participation.What else do you want for active participation ??
Leave rest aside. Please read and re-read one that is in red. Carrying handle. Mate, tell me, is this a piece of cutting edge technology that will need a user trial to be called ok? Do selecting a proper carrying handle needs a survey and even if it does, then why didn't army carried out one in time? My conclusion. Had army been so actively involved in INSAS program then they would have made ARDE select a proper handle, right on day one. Do i need to say more on army's active participation in INSAS program.

WHO is saying that army will not induct the new rifle made by ARDE? do give me the answer to this one. because as i have posted earlier army will be inducting 2,18,320 advanced carbines developed by ARDE indigenously.
MoD have floated a global tender for buying IAR for army. MoD have floated a global tender for buying CQBR for army. MoD will be floating or have already floated a global tender for small arms. Tell me where is the space? And which carbines you are talking about?

And about financial support. DRDO is a govenrment company it has 100 Percent financial support , which is not so for companies even in the west.
Navy upon seeing delay in money flow from government provided money from their budget for starting N-LCA project. Doesn't this example speaks anything? However, my words were to mean sharing financial burden to bring accountability on both, user and developer. Even MoD have plans for imposing 'burden sharing' clause, but for some reason army have already said no.

Corruption is everywhere , why don't you talk about the corrupt OFB chief who screwed the army backwards , and robbed them of their SAR-21?
Did i said that they are not? Again, if army has been actively involved then there is less chances that someone can do this and go unnoticed. Its user's duty to employ watch dogs but they stayed away for simple reason that they too receive heavy chunk from that pie, although through different media.

I would like to hear how equally comfortable an INSAS is to a XM8 or bushmaster ACR , Last i heard it was about a kg heavier , jammed more often and did not have changeable caliber and barrel lengths .
Tell me how comfortable Galil IAR is to XM8? No offence mate, but you are comparing 'Toyota Corolla' to "Toyota Corolla Atlis"...... Yes its not and needed to developed further to stay contemporary till multi calibre gun is developed which is proposed to be part of F-INSAS.

The point is INSAS was an ok rifle when it entered service but is old now and needs changing . every country is moving on to new guns and we need to do the same. we cannot stall our procurement process due to delays by DRDO, when they come up with good guns we will induct them.
Like i said a follow-on program is needed to keep INSAS contemporary by time multi calibre gun become available. Re-equipping is not stalled because of DRDO only, they have tried their best to give advanced derivative of INSAS. They failed, unfortunately they were working for army.

Again only about 1.5 lakh foreign guns are being bought , to provide insight into technology and production methods the rest are supposed to be indigenous, if drdo cannot absorb technology and screws up again , it will not be armie's fault.
ToT doesn't means indigenous. You can call one gun 'ISHAPORE SLR' but it doesn't changes the fact that it is a FN FAL, as it was.

Exactly this is what i am saying. The point is as of now India is behind the world in rifle design and production , but that doesn't necessitate that we should be behind the world in procurement too and that is what army is doing.
I will say, this doesn't mean, we should not work to catch that distance.
let me ask if army had not bought anything from foreign vendors then how many wars would we have won and more importantly would DRDO have had as much technology as they have today.i also support indigenous but only when it is upto world standards
None. Nobody is asking army to stay bare handed for the sake of DRDO products. All i am saying that if some piece of technology is available within the country then army should give first preference to it. Hell, i have read an article by a (retd) senior officer(IA) who says " Hard to understand why army opted to wait so long instead of launching an indigenous program to develop a 155 MM/52 calibre SPH with DRDO who have delivered them 105 MM Indian field gun as well as developed extremely accurate gun for Arjun.

Hell i am dying to see Tejas inducted because i believe it is upto the standards and maybe even better :)
As long as PAF inducts and support JF-17, we need not to think about LCA's lethality and use, not for a single second i believe.

----------------------------------

This is another misconception, INSAS-Mk 1 is being retired for F-INSAS
INSAS-MK-1 is not being retired for F-INSAS in fact it is being retired for IAR like Galil, G-36 and AK-103. And that video is probably from DEFXPO-08 and much have changed in last two years.
 

p2prada

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So what happens to F-INSAS if INSAS isn't going to be the future assault rifle?
INSAS and F-INSAS are not related.

INSAS is the name of the rifle while F-INSAS is the name of a development program.

INSAS = INdian Small Arms System
F-INSAS = Future INfantry Soldier as a System

They are not to be confused with eachother.
 

gogbot

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INSAS-MK-1 is not being retired for F-INSAS in fact it is being retired for IAR like Galil, G-36 and AK-103. And that video is probably from DEFXPO-08 and much have changed in last two years.
http://www.india-defence.com/reports/3269

In the first phase, to be completed by 2012, the infantry soldiers will be equipped with modular weapon systems that will have multi-functions.
Well unless we are putting a bucket over the IA head to live up to the one good project they had going. The only way for them to meet that time line is to have a new weapons system by the end of the year.

And by the way the IA does not want other assault rifles for Open caliber carbines

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/systems/jdw/jdw080514_1_n.shtml

India seeks carbines to boost future soldier programme

By Rahul Bedi

14 May 2008


India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a global tender at the end of April for 43,318 close quarter battle (CBQ) carbines to bolster its F-INSAS (Future Infantry Soldier as a System) programme.

The request for proposals (RfP) for the 'open calibre' carbines is valued at around INR44 billion (USD1.1 billion) and was dispatched to European, Israeli and US manufacturers.

The RfP covers night-vision devices, laser designators and detachable under-barrel grenade launchers.
If the F-INSAS time line is to be belived they have to induct a new weapons system in 2 years.

How will they retire INSAS, Induct AK-103 , then retire once again and induct F-INSAS all in a span of 2 years
 

notinlove

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Leave rest aside. Please read and re-read one that is in red. Carrying handle. Mate, tell me, is this a piece of cutting edge technology that will need a user trial to be called ok? Do selecting a proper carrying handle needs a survey and even if it does, then why didn't army carried out one in time? My conclusion. Had army been so actively involved in INSAS program then they would have made ARDE select a proper handle, right on day one. Do i need to say more on army's active participation in INSAS program.
Sheer naivety my friend , you cannot underestimate the usage of any piece of equipment on a gun , every b olt is as important as a bullet. About the participation , this is not the way forces work, they give out their requirements and the developer develops , it goes for user trials and if the user doesn't like anything it gets changed, Standard procedure. if the user gets involved from day one it will be called "Active Interference" and not active participation.

MoD have floated a global tender for buying IAR for army. MoD have floated a global tender for buying CQBR for army. MoD will be floating or have already floated a global tender for small arms. Tell me where is the space? And which carbines you are talking about?
You need to read this thread more carefully.

Navy upon seeing delay in money flow from government provided money from their budget for starting N-LCA project. Doesn't this example speaks anything? However, my words were to mean sharing financial burden to bring accountability on both, user and developer. Even MoD have plans for imposing 'burden sharing' clause, but for some reason army have already said no.
The 80 percent rule is for private companies and not DRDO. DRDO is 100 percent govenment funded so there is no point of financial burden sharing.

Did i said that they are not? Again, if army has been actively involved then there is less chances that someone can do this and go unnoticed. Its user's duty to employ watch dogs but they stayed away for simple reason that they too receive heavy chunk from that pie, although through different media.
You have got a proof for this? or are you just speculating?

Tell me how comfortable Galil IAR is to XM8? No offence mate, but you are comparing 'Toyota Corolla' to "Toyota Corolla Atlis"...... Yes its not and needed to developed further to stay contemporary till multi calibre gun is developed which is proposed to be part of F-INSAS.
And Who said we are buying a galil IAR?? I am not comparing Toyota corrola to altis , i am just saying the world is moving on to the altis so should we.

Like i said a follow-on program is needed to keep INSAS contemporary by time multi calibre gun become available. Re-equipping is not stalled because of DRDO only, they have tried their best to give advanced derivative of INSAS. They failed, unfortunately they were working for army.
Multi caliber is the follow on program. what the hell other follow on are you talking about.what do you want we get the excalibur into service, then after 5 years when multi caliber is available we through it out?I suspect India is not that rich.

ToT doesn't means indigenous. You can call one gun 'ISHAPORE SLR' but it doesn't changes the fact that it is a FN FAL, as it was.
Did i say ToT means indigenous? just tell me one thing why is the Army paying more than 10 lac for a gun it can get for 1.5 lac?
The reason is to buy technology and Production methods for OFB and DRDO.


I will say, this doesn't mean, we should not work to catch that distance.
And what should the army do in the meanwhile , while the DRDO is trying to catch the distance?
None. Nobody is asking army to stay bare handed for the sake of DRDO products. All i am saying that if some piece of technology is available within the country then army should give first preference to it. Hell, i have read an article by a (retd) senior officer(IA) who says " Hard to understand why army opted to wait so long instead of launching an indigenous program to develop a 155 MM/52 calibre SPH with DRDO who have delivered them 105 MM Indian field gun as well as developed extremely accurate gun for Arjun.
The technology does not exist. The technology is being developed. and if DRDO has the ability to develop a 155 mm gun then why are they asking for a foreign vendor for the turret of bhim?
 

Singh

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Why shouldn't GoI float an offshore company and buy out foreign defence companies, and shift their production to India, while they can continue their R&D abroad ?
 

p2prada

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Why shouldn't GoI float an offshore company and buy out foreign defence companies, and shift their production to India, while they can continue their R&D abroad ?
You cannot buy foreign arms companies. They are all doing very well. None of them are in the red for bailout.

R&D in foreign lands seems good now. But, it is not a good option in the long run. Who knows who will be our new enemy?
 

mattster

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You cannot buy foreign arms companies. They are all doing very well. None of them are in the red for bailout.

R&D in foreign lands seems good now. But, it is not a good option in the long run. Who knows who will be our new enemy?
Wrong Answer.

You cannot buy foreign defense companies regardless of whether they are doing well or not because they are strategic implications of selling key defense companies to foreigners as well as the transfer of secret technology.

For instance, the sale of defense companies requires Government approval in the US and maybe even congressional approval.
You would never be able to buy a Lockheed Martin or Northrop no matter how much you want to pay, regardless of their financial circumstances.
 

Armand2REP

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Wrong Answer.

You cannot buy foreign defense companies regardless of whether they are doing well or not because they are strategic implications of selling key defense companies to foreigners as well as the transfer of secret technology.

For instance, the sale of defense companies requires Government approval in the US and maybe even congressional approval.
You would never be able to buy a Lockheed Martin or Northrop no matter how much you want to pay, regardless of their financial circumstances.
If its publicly traded, you can own it like Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Dassault (DASTY), Thales (HO.PA) and so forth. There are plenty of examples of takeovers of failing defence companies by other defence companies. Thales become a multinational corporation by doing so.
 

Vinod2070

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^^ The government does have a say in this. It may work for companies within a country acquiring each other, not when other country's companies want to acquire such firms. Especially non-Western firms.

China even failed to acquire a US oil company because politicians didn't let them. Same for their efforts to acquire a metals company in Australia.
 

Armand2REP

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^^ The government does have a say in this. It may work for companies within a country acquiring each other, not when other country's companies want to acquire such firms. Especially non-Western firms.

China even failed to acquire a US oil company because politicians didn't let them. Same for their efforts to acquire a metals company in Australia.
If India wants to be a part of the Western defence complex, they will allow it. It all depends on how much India wants to be a Western ally.
 

Vinod2070

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I think India wants to be a partner, not an ally. India values its independent foreign policy too much to be a Western ally.
 

gogbot

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If India wants to be a part of the Western defence complex, they will allow it. It all depends on how much India wants to be a Western ally.
The whole idea behind efforts all these years was to have an Indian defense complex.

Of course having close ties with both Russian and western defense business is a huge advantage. And India is lucky to have such a rare middle ground.

There is no reason for India to shift over entirely to one camp.

An Indian defense complex is the only way to maintain this middle ground and push forward
 

Agantrope

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The whole idea behind efforts all these years was to have an Indian defense complex.

Of course having close ties with both Russian and western defense business is a huge advantage. And India is lucky to have such a rare middle ground.

There is no reason for India to shift over entirely to one camp.

An Indian defense complex is the only way to maintain this middle ground and push forward
Tech Absorption should come well from the private as well as the public sector. But here a unwritten monopoly is going on.
 

gogbot

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Tech Absorption should come well from the private as well as the public sector. But here a unwritten monopoly is going on.
That is changing.

Progress in increasing Private sector involvement may be slow. But it is none the less happening.

The MMRCA deal for example has led to JV companies formed between The Indian private sector and Foreign manufacturer.
This was done as a result of offsets.

TATA for example as formed a number of JV's to produce equipment locally. This of course means tech absorption and capital investment.

TATA and Mahindra are looking Prime to be our first major defense company's.

what we forget in our future outlook of Indian defense capabilities are teh contributions from our Private sector.

Our roadmaps are Based on Public sector planning and capabilities only.

I think this decade may finally show results to the efforts made in the last one.

If you are following the changes made to the DPP, they More and more empower private companies and increase their opportunities.
Thats what the whole offset policy was about. To give our priavte companies a chance at participation and growth.
 
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