AK 203 assault rifle: A boost for the Indian Army

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for a manufacturing unit of the AK-203/103 assault rifle at the Korwa ordnance factory in the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh. So we are going to talk about AK-203 rifle and its importance for the army.

• Firstly, the AK-203 is the latest and most advanced version of the legendary AK-47 rifle.
• New Delhi and Moscow signed an inter-governmental agreement to build the AK-203 in India. This is nearly 10 years after the Army expressed a strong desire to replace the INSAS with a modern assault rifle.

AK 203 General specifications:

Caliber- 7.62×39.

Action – Gas operated, rotating bolt locking mech.

Length- 880-940mm, 705 (stock folded)

Barrel length- 415mm (16.5inch)

Weight- 4.1KG with empty mag.

Rate of fire- 600 rounds

Magazine capacity- 30 round

Effective Range- 500m with iron sight, 800m with 4X scope

• And besides that, this is also going to boost the Make in India programme.
• And most importantly, the AK-203’s magazine can hold 30 bullets with a range of 400 meters which is 100% accurate.
• Also, It will be much lighter and shorter than an INSAS rifle.
• And above all, the most important quality of the AK-series rifles is that they never get jammed. They can work under extreme climatic conditions and are also effective in sand, soil and water.

• The Defence Ministry has also signed a contract with American Sig Sauer for the supply of 7.69mm 59 calibre advanced assault rifles.
• And it is also a possibility that 15 to 20 years from now, all the forces would be using this assault rifle as their standard weapon.
• The AK-47 was first produced by engineers of Stalin’s USSR, working in secret at a motor Plant Complex in Izhevsk. The name was an acronym for Avtomat Kalashnikova, Russian for ‘the automatic by Kalashnikov’.

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