Some interesting points about about SIG Sauer and Carcal :
1 CARCAL was established in 2007 when UAE decided to become self reliant in small arms .They hired experts around the globe, from countries such as the US, Germany, Russia and India etc.These expert established the R&D ,Manufacturing and quality control ,as it was first time for the UAE to venture into small arms development and production .Now ,not only UAE has become self reliant in small arms but is on the verge of selling their product to India-which has the honor of having world class small arms producing facility since its independence.
2 Yes you heard it right ,there are many Indians working in CARCAL,for example their CAD designer is an Indian.
3 CARCL 716 is based on short stroke piston and is an improved version of Hk 416.
4 The brain behind HK 416 ,SIG SAUER 816 and CARCAL 716 is one - Robert Hirt.
5 Robert Hirt is a German engineer hired by CARCAL,he is the man behind setting up the manufacturing facility to quality control for CARCAL .He is at present the Chief Operating Officer of Caracal.First he was working for HK ,where he developed HK 416, then he moved to SIG sauer where he worked on SIG 817,516, 517 and the MCX programs; from there he was hired by CARCAL.
5 The CEO of Caracal, Hamad Salem Al Ameri, is not your typical CEO or businessman or BABU. He is an active duty UAE Army Special Forces officer who was commissioned in the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, UK.Being an end user,he is actively involved in weapon development.
6 Caracal has signed a MoU with MKU for production of assault rifles at MKU proposed facility in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. However, it remain to be seen whether these carbine are manufactured here or not ,as the order of 95000 is too small to create new manufacturing facility plus the rifles have to be delivered within a year of contract signing .
7 SIG SAUER past has been shady in India - Abhishek Verma and his wife `bribed’ MHA officials to help Sig Sauer seal deal.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...Sig-Sauer-seal-deals/articleshow/19055735.cms
8 SIG SAUER 816 had also participated in the Pakistani army trials for their new assault rifle.However ,no rifle passed all the tests without issues.The FN SCAR was the only rifle that was finalized, officially accepted, with licensed manufacturing approved.
The crux of the matter is UAE decided to become self sufficient in small arms ,started in 2007 and was not only able to gain self sufficiency in such a short time, but able to produce such world class weapons, that one of the major army of the world -the Indian army is on the verge of buying from them.Honestly l1 from them is not surprising ,as the legitimacy which this deal would provide them world over regarding their weapons is worth more than some profit which they will lose in short term .However ,the point worth pondering is why OFB -which was among one of the most advance rifle factory at time of our independence and has produced world class rifles such as SMLE and SLR is in such a pathetic state today.I blame the Babus,OFB wallas work ethics and the politicians who have been in government at different period of time till date.
Hope the rifle finalized are SIG716 g2 and Caracal 816 a2 which are the latest iteration of these rifles.Also,IMHO it would be best if we source the 7.62 rifle and 5.56 rifle from the same vendor as a package deal,such as carcal 816 and 817.It is much ore practical deal and should be much more cheaper in a package, rather than going in for multiple OEM.