<p class="title">Indian Army has once again changed the specifications of the assault rifles it wants to buy, the fourth time in the last seven year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In February 2017, it issued a Request for Information (RFI), the first step in the military tendering process, for 5.5 lakh assault rifles of 7.62×51 mm calibre with a range of 500-550 mt. The rifles were to be made in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As an emergency purchase, the army is in the process of buying another 72,400 assault rifles of such calibre from a foreign vendor using a fast track route.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But last week the army issued a fresh RFI to buy 6.5 lakh assault rifles of the lower caliber of 7.62 x 39 mm with a minimum range of 300 mt. This means these rifles would be having a lesser firing range and a different barrel from the ones that would be purchased from abroad. It cancels the previous RFI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This is the fourth change of specifications since 2011 when the Army issued the first tender document to change its home-made INSAS rifles (5.6 x 46 mm). The decision to change the rifle was taken in 2007 but the first RFI was issued only in 2011.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first RFI was for a dual-calibre rifle that allows two types of ammunition with an interchangeable barrel —7.62 x 39mm and 5.56 x 45mm. The tender was withdrawn in 2015. A second attempt to buy the replacement was also scrapped.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The third attempt happened in 2017 was on the basis of Army's changed operational philosophy of “shoot to kill” rather than maiming the enemy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fourth change within a year's time, sources said, could be due to a combination of factors including budgetary constraints.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A meeting with the prospective vendors is tentatively scheduled on September 10 and the Request for Proposal – the second stage in the military tendering process – is likely around December 2018, sources said.</p>
<p class="title">Indian Army has once again changed the specifications of the assault rifles it wants to buy, the fourth time in the last seven year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In February 2017, it issued a Request for Information (RFI), the first step in the military tendering process, for 5.5 lakh assault rifles of 7.62×51 mm calibre with a range of 500-550 mt. The rifles were to be made in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As an emergency purchase, the army is in the process of buying another 72,400 assault rifles of such calibre from a foreign vendor using a fast track route.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But last week the army issued a fresh RFI to buy 6.5 lakh assault rifles of the lower caliber of 7.62 x 39 mm with a minimum range of 300 mt. This means these rifles would be having a lesser firing range and a different barrel from the ones that would be purchased from abroad. It cancels the previous RFI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This is the fourth change of specifications since 2011 when the Army issued the first tender document to change its home-made INSAS rifles (5.6 x 46 mm). The decision to change the rifle was taken in 2007 but the first RFI was issued only in 2011.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first RFI was for a dual-calibre rifle that allows two types of ammunition with an interchangeable barrel —7.62 x 39mm and 5.56 x 45mm. The tender was withdrawn in 2015. A second attempt to buy the replacement was also scrapped.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The third attempt happened in 2017 was on the basis of Army's changed operational philosophy of “shoot to kill” rather than maiming the enemy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fourth change within a year's time, sources said, could be due to a combination of factors including budgetary constraints.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A meeting with the prospective vendors is tentatively scheduled on September 10 and the Request for Proposal – the second stage in the military tendering process – is likely around December 2018, sources said.</p>
