TIRUCHY : Addressing the need for high calibre, light weight weapons for paramilitary forces battling insurgents, Ordnance Factory Tiruchirapalli (OFT) has developed an assault rifle that is on par the iconic AK 47 rifle. The first batch of rifles was handed over to Chattisgarh police on Saturday.
Said to match the AK-47, the indigenously designed and developed 7.62X39 mm rifle is touted as substitute to the former and save valuable foreign exchange by reducing dependence on imports.
The rifle can be operated both in automatic and single fire modes and has been developed specifically to address operational requirements of forces deployed in naxalite-prone States.
“The weapon can fire up to 600 rounds a minute in automatic mode. Targets at a distance of 500m can be destroyed and the assault rifle is highly effective up to a distance of 300m.
We have orders to produce 4,000 units for four State police departments including Chattisgarh,” said K Appa Rao, general manager, OFT. The weapon is an outcome of 1.5 years of R&D and is available in three variants – fixed butt, side foldable, and under folding versions. All three models can be mounted with a 40mm under barrel grenade launcher.
Stating that OFT has been modernising the plant to match the evolving requirements of Armed forces, Rao said additional assembly lines were being established to ramp up production.