More power to Indian Army! Defence Ministry signs Rs 880 cr deal for LMGs with Israeli Firm
Total Views |
New Delhi, March 20: Providing essential weapons to escalate combat power of the Indian Army, the Ministry of Defence has now signed a major contract for procurement of more than 16,000 Light Machine Guns (LMG) with Israeli Firm on Thursday, further viewing to fulfil the long-standing requirement
The ministry has agreed for acquisition of 16,479 for Rs 880 crore. “The Indian Armed Forces long-standing requirement of a modern state-of-the-art Light Machine Gun (LMG) has finally fructified. The Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence has signed the capital acquisition contract with Israel Weapons Industries for procurement of 16,479 LMGs at a cost of Rs 880 crore with the approval of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh,” it said.
The army was looking out for 7.62mm x 51mm weapons with an effective range of at least 800 metres.“The contracted Negev 7.62X51 mm LMG is a combat proven weapon and currently used by several countries around the globe. This LMG will greatly enhance the lethality and range of a soldier vis-a-vis the presently used weapon,” it added. This LMG probably will replace the indigenous INSAS LMG which has the calibre of 5.56x45mm.
Ministry of Defence signs Rs 880 crore contract for Light Machine Guns with Israeli firm https://t.co/NHlOWy0ffP@DefenceMinIndia @rajnathsingh @RajnathSingh_in @PIB_India @PIBHindi @IAF_MCC @indiannavy @adgpi @DRDO_India @HQ_DG_NCC
— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) March 19, 2020
Furthermore it said, “The provisioning of this operationally urgent and very critically needed weapon will boost the confidence of the frontline troops and provide much needed combat power to the Armed Forces.” The FTP is applied when there is undue delay in acquiring weapons which can severely affect the urgent operations of the military forces. The Defence Acquisition Council had cleared the acquiring of the LMGs under FTP last year in February.
During last year in May, an army-lead team visited three countries to obtain these rifles under fast track procedure (FTP). It had met the officials of Arsenal in Bulgaria before visiting Israel Weapons in Israel and S&T Motiv in South Korea for procuring the LMGs. In addition to that, India had already signed a contract for Sig Sauer Assault Rifles with the US for procurement of 72,400 7.62mm last year.