Indian Army orders fresh batch of 73K SIG SAUER 716 rifles from US under emergency procurement

New Delhi: The Indian Army has placed an additional order of 73,000 SIG 716 G2 patrol assault or battlefield rifles from the US as part of its emergency procurement.

SIG SAUER president and CEO Ron Cohen said they were proud to be a partner in the modernisation effort of the Indian Army, “and prouder still that the SIG 716 rifle achieves the Ministry of Defence’s modernisation goals with the second largest army in the world”.

The SIG 716 is an enhanced assault rifle platform chambered in 7.62 NATO featuring a 16-inch barrel, M-LOK handguard, and a 6-position telescoping stock. SIG SAUER designs and builds the SIG 716 rifles for the Indian Army and for all of its customers in the United States.

In February 2019, 72,400 SIG 716 rifles—66,400 for the Army, 4,000 for the Air Force and 2,000 for the Navy—of 7.62 x 51mm calibre were contracted from SIG SAUER Inc, US, under the government’s ‘Buy (Global)’ category through the fast-track procedure (FTP).

Contrary to initial plans to equip only frontline troops, the Army equipped over 400 infantry battalions with the new rifles, as reported earlier. At least two companies and all infantry battalions were given the SIG 716—irrespective of whether they were in the field or at peace stations. The number of rifles distributed across the battalions differed, with some getting more than others.

The decision behind going for a fresh lot was prompted by the performance of the weapon, to ensure operational necessity, commonality and functionality of associated logistics, defence sources had said.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)

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