India-China faceoff: 72,500 Sig assault rifles ordered for soldiers deployed at LAC in Ladakh

 A new batch of 72,500 Sig-16 assault rifles from the US will be given to the Indian Army soldiers deployed on the China front in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian government has approved the acquisition of the second batch of around 72,500 Sig Sauer assault rifles from the US under fast-track procedures for the Army.

“The first batch was provided to troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. A second lot of the Sig-16 assault rifles would be for the troops deployed on the China front in eastern Ladakh and other areas,” top government sources told Aajtak and India Today TV.

The new rifles will replace the existing Indian Small Arms System (Insas) 5.56x45mm rifles used by the forces and manufactured locally by the Ordnance Factories Board.

As per the plan, around 1.5 lakh imported rifles were to be used by the troops in counter-terrorism operations and frontline duties on the Line of Control (LoC) and the newly-activated Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The remaining forces would be provided with the AK-203 rifles, which are to be produced jointly by India and Russia at the Amethi ordnance factory.

Amid the ongoing India-China border dispute, the Indian Army is going to place another order of 72,000 Sig 716 assault rifles from the US.

The Indian Army had been trying to replace their standard INSAS assault rifles for many years but attempts failed due to one reason or the other.

Recently, the Defence Ministry placed an order of 16,000 light machine guns (LMGs) from Israel to do away with the shortage of these guns.