Russia is ready to ensure production of 7.62 mm AK-203 assault rifles in India within the next few years.

This was stated by the general director of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev.

"The Russian side confirms its readiness to ensure, within two or three years, the full-scale production of the latest version of Kalashnikov assault rifles, which will provide the power structures of India with modern small arms," ​​TASS quoted Mikheev as saying.

The general director of Rosoboronexport explained that the first batch of Russian machines will be manufactured in India with a gradual increase in localization of production and a transition to full-scale production.

“There is a peculiarity of launching production.

The first 70 thousand AK-203 assault rifles will be produced in India with a gradual increase in localization from 5 to 70%.

The rest of the machines will be produced with 100% localization, ”Mikheev said.

On the eve of the Ministry of Defense of India and the joint Russian-Indian venture Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited signed a contract for the production in India and the supply of more than 600 thousand Kalashnikov assault rifles to the country's power ministries.

Thus, India will become the first foreign country to produce two-hundredth series of Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Earlier, Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of Russia, said that more than 600 thousand Kalashnikov assault rifles would be produced in India under this contract.

In February 2019, Rosoboronexport announced that the concern had issued permits for the export of Kalashnikov assault rifles of the 200 series - AK-200, AK-203, AK-204 and AK-205.

Already in March 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the opening of a new joint venture for the production of AK-203 assault rifles.

The facility uses the facilities of a small arms factory in the city of Korwa in northeastern India.

The Kalashnikov Concern owns 42% of the shares of Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited, another 7.5% belongs to Rosoboronexport, the controlling stake (50.5%) remains with India.

The AK-203 assault rifle in the configuration for the Indian Armed Forces was first presented at the DefExpo India 2020 international arms exhibition.

200th Kalashnikov

The development of the 200 series Kalashnikov assault rifles began in 2011.

The task was to obtain individual small arms that would meet modern requirements.

The 200th Kalashnikovs differ from their predecessors by significantly improved ergonomics.

Earlier, the chief designer of the Kalashnikov concern, Sergei Urzhumtsev, told RT that when working on a new generation of assault rifles at the enterprise, "they came close to solving the problem of adapting weapons to the anthropometric data of a soldier and sets of wearable equipment that are supplied to the troops."

"In particular, servicemen were able to adjust the length of the butt, as well as, depending on the tasks to be solved, install a wide range of additional equipment on it - aiming devices, holding handles, lights, bipods and much more," Urzhumtsev said in an interview with RT.

The AK-203 assault rifle is equipped with a folding adjustable buttstock, an ergonomic pistol grip and a fire translator with a finger rest.

In addition, two Picatinny rails (rail-mounted brackets) are installed on the receiver pad and forend for attaching additional sights and laser designators, flashlights and other devices.

  • Visitors inspect the AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifle at the 1st International Defense Exhibition Defense & Security Expo Vietnam 2019 in Hanoi

  • RIA News

  • © Alexander Melnikov

The flame arrester at the end of the barrel also acts as a brake-compensator.

The receiver cover is hinged to the aiming bar block and is fixed with a special lock at the rear of the weapon.

The total length of the AK-203 is from 890 to 950 mm, depending on the position of the folding stock with a mass of 3.8 kg.

Sighting range of fire - 800 m, rate of fire - 700 rounds per minute with a magazine capacity of 30 rounds.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle of the 200 series is a modern weapon that is reliable and meets all the requirements for it, Dmitry Kornev, founder of the Military Russia portal, said in an interview with RT.

“Their main advantages are reliability and simplicity in operation.

Rifle caliber 7.62 has a fairly high destructive power.

Not every bulletproof vest will save you from this machine gun, this is a rather serious assault weapon.

Models of the 200 series have been significantly modernized, they use new composite materials.

Kalashnikov has become smaller, more interesting to look at, ”the expert emphasized.

At the same time, Kornev drew attention to the fact that India preferred machine guns for the full-size rifle caliber of 7.62 mm, and not for intermediate cartridges of 5.56 mm NATO standard or Russian 5.45 mm.

“Cartridge 7.62 is almost impossible to stop: no bushes, no grass or foliage interfere with it.

Intermediate cartridges have a bullet with an offset center of gravity and can change their trajectory when colliding with light obstacles such as dense bushes.

Accordingly, the 7.62 cartridge will be more effective in dense jungle conditions, "the interlocutor of RT emphasized.

India's needs

The most common type of individual small arms used in the Armed Forces and security agencies of India is the local INSAS automatic rifle.

Serial production of these machines began in 1997.

For the first time they were widely used during the so-called Kargil War - the border conflict with Pakistan in 1999.

Despite their wide distribution among various law enforcement agencies of India, they have been repeatedly criticized for their low reliability and tactical and technical characteristics.

  • Indian border guard with automatic rifle INSAS

  • AFP

  • © Indranil Mukherjee

Since the mid-2010s, India has been gradually replacing INSAS with AK assault rifles of various modifications.

In August of this year, the Indian Air Force decided to urgently purchase 70 thousand AK-103 assault rifles to replace the INSAS rifles in service.

The Western expert community also appreciated the obvious advantages of Russian weapons in comparison with the INSAS automatic rifles adopted in India.

Thus, the American military-political portal The National Interest in the article "Why the AK-203 can be the deadliest machine gun in the world" emphasized that "compared to its competitor INSAS, the AK-203 boasts improved tactical and technical characteristics in all respects."

“The AK-203 doesn't have the proverbial jamming or temperature problems that INSAS suffers from, and benefits from being lighter, shorter, and boasting modern ergonomics.

The latter includes polymer barrel pads, a Picatinny rail and an adjustable stock.

With the insignificance of each of these elements individually, they make the overall handling of the weapon even more convenient, ”the newspaper explains.

  • Material from The National Interest on the AK-203 assault rifle

  • © The National Interest

In March, the Indian ambassador to Russia, Datla Bala Venkatesh Varma, announced that the AK-203 would eventually become the main assault weapon of the Indian Armed Forces.

“The conclusion of the contract for the joint production of the AK-203 will lay the foundation for the complete transition of the Indian armed forces to the use of the AK-203 as the main assault weapon,” Varma said.

As military expert Alexei Leonkov noted in a conversation with RT, plans for the production of 600 thousand AK-203s in India indicate that this country is in dire need of adopting a single model of small arms for its armed forces, and the Russian machine gun can become one.

“The point is that the Indian army's small arms are not uniform.

In fact, there is no combined arms machine in service that would be used in the ground forces and in other types of troops.

The figure of 600 thousand units, which is referred to in the contract for joint production, is a very powerful application for this role, ”the expert said.

Leonkov stressed that Russia continues to strengthen its position in partnership with India.

“The localization of the production of machine guns will also lead to the localization of the production of pistol and machine-gun weapons, which, of course, is very interesting for the Indians.

At the moment, everything is developing in a positive direction.

The development of military-technical cooperation between our countries continues, despite all the sanctions and threats that sound from the United States, ”the military expert concluded.