Army receives 5,000 more AK-203 rifles from Amethi plant

The Indian Army has received another batch of 5,000 AK-203 rifles from the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) facility in Amethi. The rifles were handed over after undergoing trials and quality checks, sources told India Today TV.

With this delivery, the Amethi plant has so far supplied 53,000 AK-203 rifles to the Army. The Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) team was in Amethi last month for trials before the latest batch was cleared for deployment along border areas.

The Rs 5,200-crore project for over six lakh rifles was set up in Amethi under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The first AK-203 was rolled out on August 15, 2023, at the Korwa plant, which houses the country’s most advanced small arms testing facility. The rifle has a range of 800 metres and can fire 700 rounds per minute.

As of now, 50 percent indigenisation has been achieved. This is expected to reach 70 percent by October, and full indigenisation will be completed by December 2025. After that, the rifle will be rebranded as ‘Sher’. Once fully indigenised, the Amethi facility will produce 12,000 rifles per month—one every 100 seconds—amounting to about 1.5 lakh rifles annually.

The entire order of over six lakh rifles is scheduled for delivery by December 2030, which is 22 months ahead of the original December 2032 deadline. The rifles will also be exported, with several countries expressing interest in their performance.

The Army has reported zero complaints with the rifles delivered so far, which are set to replace the INSAS rifles currently in service.

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