But we don’t have AKs of the same type, some are stamped, some are milled. Not all AKs can get those mods.
Major Avinash sir on special forces thread, says that the number of AKs available for upgrade are less, and the upgrade kit costs as much or much more than a new AK. Also a lot of AKs are at the end of their lifespan.
True - there is no standardization in the AKs that we have currently. And that's because they were not bought from any one manufacturer or country but an amalgamation of nearly half dozen East European ex-Soviet states, all with different factories, standards & quirks. This type of purchase was necessitated by the emergency faced due to terrorism in J&K in late 80s/early 90s - and the weapons IA had at the time, mostly SLRs, were large, unwieldy & unsuitable for close-range fighting.
For fulfilling an emergency requirement, it was fine. But these AKs could not be expected to fulfill the long-term requirements of a professional military. There would be zero product support - you cannot contact the factory & ask for replacements for broken weapons, modifications based on inputs, or any kind of warranty on the items involved. In many cases, the factories that made these weapons were long shut down following Soviet collapse.
We are not running some rag-tag militia. The fact that these old, unsupported weapons platforms continued to serve till today is appalling and points at the sheer disregard shown by IA top brass to institutionalize the procurement of dedicated weapons & equipment for CI/CT forces...even though its been decades since IA officially took on the responsibility of performing this role, a role which doesn't look like will end anytime in foreseeable future either.
So, any attempt to replace these disparate, old-ass guns with new AKs, manufactured & supported by a local company, is a good decision. A long overdue decision, but a good one. I only have an issue with 3 things:
1) Whether the choice of weapon & calibre originally thought to be intended for CI/CT becoming the standard issue for entirety of IA is a good one (though frontline fighting formations will be receiving SIGs).
2) The price being demanded both for production & licensing (royalties) for a design as widely copied as this.
3) One of the advantages of new-build AKs was that you can get many of the features straight from factory that otherwise would have necessitated a costly import for likes of FAB kits. Whether or not the total price remains justified even when you start removing several of these features in an apparent bid to reduce price.
