Army chief seeks opinion on modification of Insas

Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh on Monday   sought suggestions from his top commanders on changing the calibre of indigenous INSAS rifles, which is troubling the soldiers for years.

The infantry men in the Indian Army currently use 5.56 mm Insas rifles since 1994-95, despite several problems associated with the weapon such as jamming, overheating, magazines getting cracked in cold climate and automatic firing if the weapon falls to the ground by mistake.

Though the Ordnance Factory Board claimed to have rectified several of these problems, the army remained unhappy with the weapon and looked for an alternative abroad.
But with every foreign supplier failing to meet the technical criterion, the army is now left with little option but to fall back on a modified Insas.

At the five-day army commander’s conference that gets underway here on Monday, Gen Singh asked his colleagues to share their opinions on the proposed modified INSAS before fixing its specifications, sources said.  The Defence Research and Development Organisation, too, suggested improving the Insas.

The internal debate within the army on the calibre of the infantry weapons comes a month after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar informed the Parliament that the Ordnance Factory Board has undertaken a project to develop yet another 5.56 mm calibre Insas rifles, with foldable butt, less than four kg weight and a range of 450 mt.

The army has earlier proposed rifles with interchangeable barrels for both 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm rounds for close combats and conventional armed conflicts.

This, however, seems to have been ruled out for the time being. With no replacement of Insas in sight for another two-three years, the army now has the option to suggest modification of Insas rifles, sources said.

The initial requirement would be upwards of 60,000 pieces and the numbers are expected to rise.