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What is the News?
Ahead of the Russian President visit to India, Defence Acquisition Council(DAC) has approved the deal for the manufacture of AK-203 assault rifles in India. Another deal likely to make progress is for Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) systems. However, the Ka-226T utility helicopter deal is unlikely to be cleared.
What is AK-203?
AK-203 is an assault rifle designed by Russia. It is considered to be the latest and most advanced version of the AK-47 rifle. They will be replacing the Indian Small Arms System(INSAS) rifles.
Features: The AK-203 rifle is reliable, durable and easy to maintain. It also has better ergonomics, accuracy and density of fire. They are also considered lighter, shorter and deadlier than the INSAS rifle.
Production of AK-203 for India: The production of the AK-203 will be undertaken in India by the Indo-Russia Rifles Pvt Ltd (IRRPL), which was created as a joint venture between the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) and the Russian entities Rosoboronexport and Concern Kalashnikov.
What is Igla-S?
Igla-S Man-Portable Air Defence System is a Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) System manufactured by Russia.
Purpose: These missiles are meant to counter low-flying aircraft as the last line of defence against flying objects in a layered air defence system.
Range: It will have a maximum range of 6 km, an altitude of 3 km along with all-weather capability.
Click Here to read about KA-226T
Source: This post is based on the article “DAC approves AK-203 deal with Russia” published in The Hindu on 23rd Nov 2021.
