Why more Sig Sauer rifles for the Indian Army ?

The Indian army has placed an additional order for Sig Sauer 716 G2 Patrol rifles for the frontline troops in the Northern Command which looks after the newly created union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, surprisingly this comes just a few days after Prime minister Modi's call for an Atma Nirbhar Bharat. As soon as this news was announced there has been a hue and cry on social media about import of these rifles and why we cannot induct indigenous rifles. The question is obvious and valid but no obvious answers seem to exist for such an obvious question. The obvious answer is missing from the discourse because no one wants to bell the cat, everyone is avoiding to point out why we still lack an indigenous rifle. We will address the issue but lets first understand why the Sig Sauer 716 rifle is such a good choice for the army on the LoC. 

Sig Sauer 716 G2 Patrol Rifle 

The Sig Sauer 716 G2 

The Sig 716 G2 fires the 7.62x51mm NATO round, weighs 4.3 kg, features ambidextrous controls, a free floating barrel, aluminium frontend, adjustable gas regulator, adjustable butt stock and range of 500 meters with high accuracy. The rifle has all features of a modern battle rifle and a very low recoil. This rifle outclasses the HK G3 battle rifle used by the Pakistan army which the INSAS rifle currently cannot match. The rifle uses advanced materials, state of the art manufacturing techniques and comes with Sig Sauer quality guarantee. The product is no doubt world class and when used with the right optics is almost as good as a designated marksman rifle (DMR) owing to its high accuracy. The rifle has been tested by the Indian Army on the LoC frontline and the results seem to be positive enough that a second batch has been ordered by the Army.

The Current Scenario

The current scenario for the Indian army looks grim as the AK-203 7.62x39mm caliber rifle, which was touted as the replacement for the INSAS rifle, has not yet materialized into production. The INSAS has outlived its life and utility and no other indigenous rifle program has come to fruition. The indigenous Excalibur rifle did not make the cut and nor did the MCIWS ( Multi Calibre Individual Weapon System). The OFB also manufactures two indigenous AK 47 clones called the the 'Ghatak' made by the Ishapore rifle factory and the TAR ( Trichy Assault Rifle ) made by Ordnance Factory Tiruchirapalli. These two rifles have been adopted by the Central Armed Police Forces like BSF, CRPF and some state police forces. These two rifles are in the same class as the AK-203, both the rifles are operational without much complaint. There is loud buzz in indigenization enthusiasts questioning, why these indigenized AK style rifles can not be adopted by the army instead of the AK 203. The answer is pretty simple, although these rifles are decent and do the job but they are not the best available in the world. When you send a soldier into a firefight you ought to give him the best gear so that he comes out victorious. You can't ask him to promote indigenization at the risk of his life and therefore, he deserves the best gear available. The rifles used by terrorists are as good and capable as the ones used by the security forces currently so we need to arm our soldiers with better ones and AK 203 is the answer to that as and when it materializes. 

The Conclusion 

The additional rifle procurement from Sig Sauer is a smart and timely move by the army, as no indigenous options are available in the 7.62 x 51 mm class of firearms. This category fires a much bigger and heavier round and provides the necessary range and punch that the soldiers will need at the LoC. The Indian soldiers have lost their lives due to malfunctioning of INSAS rifles and these replacements are a boon and necessity. The indigenous arms need to be promoted but its not the job of the frontline troops to promote them. They face firefights and cease fire violations (CFV) almost on a daily basis at the Line of Control and they need a firearm that is better than the enemy to give a befitting reply.The soldier and the gun both win the war collectively, we have the soldiers to win any battle but the battle winning rifle has been missing till now.