Article

2019-11-20 India-Pakistan

Indian Army to reduce orders of sniper rifles by about 70%

[Times of India] The Indian Army plans to buy just 1,800 state-of-the-art sniper rifles and 2.7 million rounds of ammunition -- less than a third of its total requirement -- driven by budgetary constraints and the need to speed up deliveries, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Rifle in the graphic appears to be an American M-24. Not certain if that is subject of the reduced order.
The military pruned its original requirement of 5,720 sniper rifles and 10 million rounds of ammunition, which would have cost $140 million, to prioritize spending and advance the purchase of more modern equipment, they said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Indian Army spokesman Aman Anand said he had no comment to offer on the change in procurement plans.

The Indian armed forces have 450,000 infantry soldiers, of whom only half go into ground battle and an even smaller number of them use sniper rifles to take out specific enemy targets through precision firing.

The move is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $250-billion modernization plan for the Indian defense forces, as the infantry soldiers continue to face the brunt of deadly attacks in disputed border areas such as Kashmir and the northeast.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-11-20 07:29|| || Front Page|| [15 views ] Top

#1 Maybe Accuracy International will have to fake another factory lol.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-11-20 08:51|| 2019-11-20 08:51|| Front Page Top

#2 Military procurement in India is a preserve of career bureaucrats, and politicians. People who never saw a bullet hole in their lives, people who scold their sons for even thinking of joining the army; people secure in the knowledge that we'll put up a wall of bodies between the borders and New Delhi before their gravy train is conquered. Aaaargh !

'Nuff said.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-11-20 15:52|| 2019-11-20 15:52|| Front Page Top

#3 Rifle in the graphic is one found in a terrorist hide. I don't know the genius whose idea the red tape was, but the irony is inescapable.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-11-20 16:03|| 2019-11-20 16:03|| Front Page Top

#4 Maybe, strategically, they have need for fewer snipers.

Posted by Skidmark 2019-11-20 16:13|| 2019-11-20 16:13|| Front Page Top

#5 While it's correct that unless you're engaged in war there's no sense in arming 3,000 snipers; the neighbours have collectively 27,000 specialized infantry training on chinese knockoffs with drills and routines copied from the west.

Our units that undertake 'other than war' ops have a mandate to procure directly, but the regulars are increasingly being called upon to defend against chinese knockoffs and imports showing up in the sasquatch arsenal. The govt knows this.

The procurement process in a country like India is riddled with corruption and sycophantic remfs throughout. Unless the military bureaucracy is trimmed down and the executive starts listening to grunts and field officers, this attitude won't change.

"No problem, Sir ! The boys don't need 1200 Accuracy Int Arctic kits. They can do with 500 Dragunovs, 200 Belgian AMRs and 500 retrofitted Excalibur IIs. And only as much ammo as the mags can hold."

"Hmm... thank you, Gupta. We can really use the money on some trips to Switzerland. Y'know, to research how they're dealing with their hostile neighbours." [winks]

"Heh Heh." [bows]

Posted by Dron66046 2019-11-20 16:45|| 2019-11-20 16:45|| Front Page Top

01:07 Grom the Reflective
00:28 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677