INSAS rifle

INSAS Rifle
The INSAS Assault Rifle
Type	Assault Rifle
Place of origin	India
Service history
In service	1998–present
Used by	See Users
Wars	Kargil War Nepalese Civil War Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
Production history
Designer	Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE)
Manufacturer	Ordnance Factories Board (OFB)
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	4.15 kg (without magazine)
Length	960 mm (37.8 in)
Barrel length	464 mm (18.3 in)
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, Rotating bolt
Rate of fire	600-650 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	900 m/s (2,953 ft/s)
Effective firing range	400m Insas Rifle 600m Point Target 700m Area Target Insas Lmg
Feed system	20- or 30-round detachable box magazine
Sights	In-built iron sights, mount point for telescopic or night sight

INSAS (an abbreviation of Indian Small Arms System) is a family of infantry arms consisting of an assault rifle and a light machine gun (LMG). It is manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Board at Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli, Small Arms Factory Kanpur and Ishapore Arsenal. The INSAS assault rifle is the standard infantry weapon of the Indian Armed Forces. It has been reportedly plagued by reliability problems. In April 2015, the Indian government replaced some INSAS rifles of the CRPF with AK-47s.

Since the late 1950s, the Indian armed forces had been equipped with a locally produced unlicensed copy of the L1A1 self-loading rifles. In mid-1980s, the decision was taken to develop a 5.56 mm calibre rifle to replace the obsolete rifles. Trials on various prototypes based on the AKM were carried out by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune. On the completion of the trial, The Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) was adopted in 1990. However, to phase out the still in use bolt-action Lee–Enfield rifles as quickly as possible, India had to acquire 100,000 7.62×39mm AKM-type rifles from Russia, Hungary, Romania and Israel in 1990–92.

Originally, three variants were planned in the INSAS system, a rifle, a carbine and a squad automatic weapon (SAW) or Light machine gun (LMG). In 1997, the rifle and the LMG went into mass production. In 1998, the first INSAS rifles were displayed at the republic day parade. The introduction of the rifle was delayed due to the lack of 5.56×45mm ammunition, large quantities of the same were bought from Israel Military Industries.