India to Receive 600,000 Russian Assault Rifles 0 22

The Indian Armed Forces (IAF) will receive over 600,000 Russian AK-203 assault rifles produced by Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited. This was reported by Maxim Karavaev, the sales director of the joint venture of the Kalashnikov Concern, whose words were cited in the company's Telegram channel.

He noted that the Indian government wanted to achieve 100% localization of the AK-203 at the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited facility, which has been operating in the state of Uttar Pradesh since 2021.

"By 2030, the Indian Armed Forces will have at least 600,000 such rifles in service," Karavaev said during the plenary session on "India-Russia Cooperation in the Defense Industry" at the opening of the RT India channel in Delhi.

The AK-203 is a version of the AK-200 designed for the 7.62x39 millimeter cartridge. The rifle features a folding telescopic stock, a new pistol grip, and an upgraded safety-selector switch. The AK-203 is also equipped with a handguard that has a Picatinny rail for mounting additional accessories.

In November, it became known that Kalashnikov had fully completed the annual contract for the supply of AK-12 rifles of the 2023 model to the Russian state customer.