Assault weapons for the Indian Army and BrahMos Export: India must build on gains

As part of its light arms modernisation effort, India has acquired a suite of assault weapons for the Indian Army’s (IA) infantry units. Amongst the biggest gains, if any, is that India’s assault rifles manufacturing base received a boost, following the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India last December. Both India and Russia signed an agreement for a Joint Venture (JV) as part of a newly established India-Russia Rifles Pvt. Ltd, which is comparable to the BrahMos Aerospace Ltd— another India-Russia cruise missile JV—to manufacture 600,000 AK-203 assault rifles for a price of 5,000 crores. The initial 70,000 rifles will be manufactured and exported from Russia. The remainder of the rifles are expected to be manufactured at a plant in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, India. There is also the possibility of Transfer of Technology (ToT) with Russia consenting to a waiver for royalty. The AK-203 is a fifth-generation assault weapon of the renowned Kalashnikov series. All this represents something of a gain for India’s small arms manufacturing sector.

Both India and Russia signed an agreement for a Joint Venture (JV) as part of a newly established India-Russia Rifles Pvt. Ltd, which is comparable to the BrahMos Aerospace Ltd— another India-Russia cruise missile JV—to manufacture 600,000 AK-203 assault rifles for a price of 5,000 crores.

But these weapons import, like many of India’s problems with defence Research and Development (R&D) and manufacturing, will continue to persist, underlining the importance of getting India’s own armed services to first deploy and use the weapons systems and platforms that India makes, thereby, rendering them more export-worthy. This is the fundamental test. Unfortunately, both the IA and the paramilitary forces do not use the Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifle anymore, because the assault rifle does not perform effectively and will be replaced by the AK-203. New Delhi will have to build on the technology it is expected to get from the AK-203 JV. Just as India has done with the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile—a JV between India and Russia—the AK-203 must be exported from India. The BrahMos cruise missile has now received an export order from the Philippines, but this was possible because the missile is in part developed and fielded extensively across the Indian Armed Forces. Indeed, the latest test by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of a longer-range naval variant of the BrahMos demonstrates and confirms the extent to which the missile has evolved and improved, making it more exportable. The case in point is the Philippines’ decision to purchase three batteries of the ground-launched BrahMos cruise missile, which crystallised largely due to its performance, where it managed to pass a stringent evaluation process, beating rival missile systems from Ukraine and Israel. There is the possibility of follow-on orders of the missiles by Manila. There are commentators who aver that India needs a defence export promotion entity that links the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or based within the MoD, which New Delhi lacks presently. After all, several efforts by BrahMos Aerospace to sell the supersonic cruise missile to Malaysia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and Chile had failed due to the absence, at least in part, of an export promotion agency comparable to the United States (US) State Department’s Bureau of Political and Military Affairs. Although it must be noted, this agency is the primary connection between the State Department and the US Department of Defense. The recommendation to create a defence product promotion entity is a helpful and reasonable proposal. 

The latest test by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of a longer-range naval variant of the BrahMos demonstrates and confirms the extent to which the missile has evolved and improved, making it more exportable.

Regardless of whether an export promotion agency is established within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or one that connects the MoD and the MEA, efforts in that direction will sunder if its success does not hinge equally on the Indian Armed Forces fielding the very capabilities India seeks to export. As is the case with the BrahMos, which has 70 percent native content, the AK-203 export success will depend on producing and critically improving on this variant of the Kalashnikov, and inducting the gun into the Indian Armed Services, especially the army. After all, the Russians are transferring technology to India, it is imperative that Indians make it exportable. However, there is a range of indigenously-built military hardware or hardware with significant indigenous content, where India is found wanting when it comes to both use by the Indian armed services and making the hardware exportable. For instance, take the case of the IA’s resistance to acquiring Mk1 and Mk-1A variants of the Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT) reflecting the level of scepticism or downright opposition a section of the army has, especially for indigenous weapons platforms such as battle tanks. Although the IA has inducted 124 tanks, it has opposed inducting more of them, mainly because of their weight and not due to their performance in desert terrain. The Mk-1A, the latest variant of the Arjun—118 of which the Army has ordered—is 6 tonnes heavier than the earlier variant. Any potential external buyer of these tanks will see for signs of internal resistance and the quantitative and operational strength of the tanks in the IA’s order of battle.

Take the case of the IA’s resistance to acquiring Mk1 and Mk-1A variants of the Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT) reflecting the level of scepticism or downright opposition a section of the army has, especially for indigenous weapons platforms such as battle tanks.

To be sure, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is on course to selling the indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to Mauritius, but this is only a drop in the ocean as far revenue from defence exports is concerned. HAL still has its task cut out in delivering Tejas Mark 1A fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF), but the Modi government delayed clearing their procurement for over 45,000 crores until January 2021, even if HAL was poised to start supplying them as early as 2015. Thus, while the IA will gain from its import of the AK-203 assault weapons, India’s R&D agencies need to make it better as they would be required to do for other domestically developed and manufactured military equipment. The Government of India (GoI) must remain focused and enthusiastic about strengthening India’s native defence industry. Indeed, there has to be some unity of effort and purpose between the GoI, armed forces, R&D agencies, and manufacturers.

• International Affairs
• Defence and Security
• India
• Russia and Eurasia
• AK-203 assault rifles
• Assault weapons
• Brahmos
• Indian Army
• INSAS
• Vladimir Putin

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