Vishalreddy3
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Sources say its MCX black mamba precisely!!Well they are gonna be offering something that's for sure. They've been getting lots of deals in India in recent times and no way they're gonna pass up on this juicy piece. Either its gonna be the MCX or the M400. Or, it could be a hybrid of sorts - an MCX platform but with the direct-impingement gas system taken from the TREAD/M400 series. It does not have to be an off-the-shelf product.
They did the same for the 716 contract. When we sent out requirements, a direct-impingement 716 did not exist. They created that specifically for the IA competition by taking the 716G2 platform and replacing its short-stroke piston with the DI taken from TREAD family.
SIG has turned into an extremely flexible company in recent times under Ron Cohen. It wasn't long ago when all that anyone trusted them to make was pistols - today they're winning contracts from likes of SOCOM left right & centre for all kinds of things from rifles, MGs, suppressors, optics, software, etc. Plus they seem to understand the Indian market better than most small arms makers...seem to have found some top-grade middleman (cough).
Oh and don't read too much into the prices of those items on civilian market - those retail prices become irrelevant when you're talking about a contract for 93,000 rifles. With scope for 360,000 more. Any company worth their salt will be playing very liberally with the quoted per-unit cost when looking at such a huge contract.
Do not discount Carmel either.
Also, the RFI uses the word 'folded stock'. Now that can be interpreted as both a stock that can be collapsed/retracted to reduce length for storage, or it can be a stock that HAS to be able to fold to the side. These wordings are pretty slyly inserted by IA HQ...useful points to reject or select a particular party by deciding how to interpret this (which only IA can do).
They've been playing such games with regard to several criteria points for long. Part of the reason why companies like Colt & FN are so pissed at IA that they've stopped even responding to tenders.
If IA 'decides' to interpret it as a side-folding stock, that will throw all AR-15s out. Only the Carmel & MCX will remain in such case.
As opposed to what? The CAR816 hasn't been used by anyone except UAE. It's the HK416 that's seen widespread usage and is considered the gold standard for Piston AR15s. Yes, the 816's designers are from H&K's original 416 team but we don't know what corners they've cut.
We cannot forget that the 816 costs about half as much as a 416. We cannot forget that the 816 was designed to be an infantry rifle, unlike 416 which was developed from ground up in collaboration with guys from Delta to be a Tier-1 SOF weapon. We cannot automatically assume they're the same exact gun & attribute all the good points of the 416 to it - it might well be like confusing a Mitsubishi Lancer with a Lancer EVO.
The MCX on the other hand has seen genuine success with SOF teams on its own merit.
