Home WORLD NEWS Army hunts for 4,800 new sniper rifles while upgrading sniping skills

Army hunts for 4,800 new sniper rifles while upgrading sniping skills

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NEW DELHI: A well-trained

sniper

is a deadly force-multiplier on the battlefield to strike fear in the hearts of enemies. With this in mind, the

Army

is now finally going in for the acquisition of a large number of long-range sniper rifles as well as upgrading training in this lethal skill.

The Army on Tuesday issued the request for information (RFI) to procure 4,800 new sniper rifles with telescopic sights and 78 lakh rounds of ammunition from Indian companies for soldiers deployed on the borders with Pakistan and China.

Concurrently, the basic and advanced sniper courses are also being upgraded at the Infantry School in Mhow. “The right training and deployment of sniper teams boosts their use as force multipliers and human intelligence assets, yielding great dividends,” a senior officer said.

“While long-range precision shooting is the most fundamental skill, good snipers also need to be adept at survival, concealment, stalking and navigation for conventional

conflicts

as well counter-terrorism operations,” he added.

The RFI specifies the new .338-calibre sniper rifles should have an effective range of over 1,200-metres, along with the .338 Lapua Magnum high-powered cartridges. The deal will be worth around Rs 460 crore.

“The tender or RFP (request for proposal) to Indian vendors will be issued around September. Deliveries will have to begin within six months of signing the contract. An earlier proposed procurement of 5,719 sniper rifles was cancelled in June 2019 because none of the vendors was found compliant. Since then, Indian companies, some with foreign collaboration, have come up with better sniper rifles,” another officer said.

Before the renewal of the border ceasefire in February last year, sniping had posed a major operational challenge for Indian soldiers along the 778-km long Line of Control because Pakistani troops were equipped with much-better sniper rifles.

The Army has gone in for emergency purchases of a limited number of .338 Sako TRG-42, Beretta’s .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT and Barrett’s .50-calibre M95 sniper rifles from abroad in recent years.

But the over 380 infantry battalions in the 12-lakh strong Army – each unit is authorized 10 sniper rifles – are still largely equipped with Russian-origin 7.62mm Dragunov semi-automatic sniper rifles. These rifles have a “limited” kill range of 800-metre and a design vintage of the 1960s. Moreover, in the absence of Picatinny rails, the Dragunov rifles are also incompatible with several modern essential accessories like magnification and sight systems.

The deal for 4,800 sniper rifles will plug this operational gap. “The change in operational dynamics, the experience along the LoC and the upgradation of the sniping capability by our adversaries has made it critical for us to enhance our sniping capabilities, both in terms of advanced rifles as well as training,” an officer said.

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