Introduction
Indian Army to induct Excalibur assault rifle in service after cancellation of Multi Caliber assault rifle tender for 66,000 rifle that was floated in 2011. Excalibur is improved version of INSAS rifle that was adopted in 1998. INSAS rifle was designed by Armament R&D Establishment (ARDE) wing of DRDO. INSAS rifles inferior when compared to rest of automatic rifles of the world. This rifles has reliability issues. It gets Jam during high altitudes, Magazines crack during cold weather. The new Excalibur rifle aims to rectify problems and deliver cost effect rifle replacing INSAS rifle.
Specifications of Excalibur rifle:
1. Caliber 5.56x45 mm
2. Weight (With full Magazines) 4.03
3. Length 895 mm (35.2 in)
4. Length (with folded stock)?
5. Barrel length 400 mm (16 in)
6. Muscle velocity 900 m/s (2,953 ft./s)
7. Cyclic rate of fire 650-700 rpm
8. Magazines capacity 20, 30 rounds
9. Sighting range?
10. Range of effective fire 400 mm
Above Specifications is taken from
http://www.military-today.com/firearms/excalibur.htm and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_rifle
Excalibur rifle fires standard NATO 5.45x45 mm ammunition. It features high ruggedness for battle field engagement and is lighter to handle. It is well suited for low intensity conflict and close quarter battle. The rifle ergonomically designed with folding butt and Pica tinny rails for mounting optical and electronic devices. The rifle also features ‘direct- gas tapping angle’ which reduces recoil during firing and abandons three round burst of INSAS rifle. Plycarnote magazines ensures good operation ability at high altitudes without cracking. During test in early 2015 Excalibur rifle performed very well and moderately successful with only 2 stoppages during 24,000 firing rounds; close to the set standard of one stoppage.
In 2015 OFB designed improved Excalibur MK 1C which is advanced version of original Excalibur rifle it is designed after Indian Army request. Excalibur MK 1C has notable differences in receiver design hand guard comes in with its own built quad-rails, its barrel length is little shorter 3 mm. With new muscle brake and new folding stock is made of metal. It retain features of Excalibur and improved 1B1 INSAS rifle.
This design has quad-rail built it on a hand guard. And fiber quality is much better than previous model. The some details of selector switch are Semi-automatic, Safety and Automatic. The Pistol grip is retain from former designed and it is simple, large and wide for gripping. The folding stock is in metal. This is perfect for close quarter combat and for fighting for tight corners.
Conclusion:
After several trials Indian Army finally going to induct indigenous Excalibur assault rifle which under ‘Make in India’. Indian Army finally to get relief after inducting Excalibur rifle into their armory. Excalibur
rifle will improve Indian Army infantry fire power. Excalibur rifle well suited for close quarter combat and fighting tight corners. It is very reliable and cheap to operate. After approval Indian Army Indian Army will induct close to 600,000 rifles in two years.
Note: Above views and words expressed are my own and not copied from any news and articles.