Ministry of Defence Plans to Acquire License-Build AK-103 Rifles

New Delhi, April 22: India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) aims to start licensed production of AK (Avtomat Kalashnikova )-103, 7.62x51mm assault rifles in India. The MoD and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) officials are likely to begin talks with Russian officials for licensed production of Ak-103 to meet the longstanding requirement of the Indian Army. The army requires over 7,68,000 assault rifles for the soldiers.

Just like AK-47, The AK-103 rifle too is extremely easy to maintain and use. The production started in 1994 at Kalashnikov Rifle Works at Izhevsk in Russia. The AK-103 assault rifle is a derivative of the AK-74M. The AK-103 can be fitted with a variety of sights, including night vision and telescopic sights. In additional to this it has an option of fitting a knife-bayonet or a grenade launcher. It uses plastic components where possible instead of wood or metal, with such components being the pistol grip, hand guards and stock.

The rifle can fire 600 rounds-per-minute and its range is 500 metres. The muzzle velocity of the AK-103 is 750 metres/second. Ak-103 is the modern version of AK-43. It can mount 40-mm under-barrel grenade launchers. The empty rifles weighs around 3.40 kg and with loaded magazine it weighs 4.10 Kg. The AK-103 can be fired even with butt stock folded. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman discussed the proposal to acquire AK-103 rifles with Russian officials during her Moscow visit this month. India’s MARCOS Commandoes are already using AK-103 rifle.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2018 12:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).