Indian Army Orders 73,000 More American-Made Sig-716 Assault Rifles; Takes Total Inventory To More Than 1.45 Lakh

Indian Army has given another order for 73,000 more Sig-716 assault rifles to a United States based company Sig Sauer.

In total, with this order along with the first order of 72,400 rifles signed in February 2019, the Indian Army will have a total of 1,45,400 Sig-716 rifles in its inventory.

These rifles are high-powered 7.62x51mm caliber, offering longer range and greater lethality than the existing INSAS and AK-47 rifles currently in service. They are currently in use in Ladakh along the China border and in the Kashmir Valley.

According to earlier reports, these rifles will primarily be used by army troops deployed in counterterrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

These Sig-716 rifles come with a 16-inch barrel, M-LOK™ handguard, and a 6-position telescoping stock.

Sig Sauer, the rifle's maker, says that to build the rifles, the company has taken “proven features of SIG516 and applied them into a potent AR-based rifle chambered in 7.62 x 51mm.”

“Utilizing the short-stroke piston-driven operating system, an M1913 Mil-Std rail, free-floating barrel, aluminum forend, and telescoping stock, the SIG716 is the rifle of choice when you require the power of a larger caliber carbine,” the company says.

Apart from these rifles, the Indian Army is inducting more than 600,000 Made-in-India Russian AK-203 rifles manufactured from a factory in Amethi. Close to 35,000 of these rifles have been handed over to the army, as well.

Army has already inducted 70,000 AK-103 assault rifles under an off-the-shelf contract signed in August 2021.

Unlike the 7.62x51mm caliber of the Sig-716, the AK-203 and AK-103 are of 7.62x39mm caliber. All these new rifles will modernize the small arms inventory of the armed forces, which was heavily dependent on the INSAS and AK-47-based rifles.

These new rifles will be particularly useful against the Chinese on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the Tibetan border in the Himalayas.