Confrontation with DRDO
It was the year 1989. The Mechanized Infantry wanted a shorter rifle for its troops since the then existing 7.62 Self
Loading Rifle was unsuited and clumsy to handle in the closed confines of the
Infantry Combat vehicles involving more
time for the soldiers to dismount and mount. This also resulted in more time
for the ICV to scoot after disgorging the troops.
The Rifle 7.62 mm 1A1 which is also known as Ishapore 1A1,
is a copy of the UK L1A1 which again is a copy of Belgian original self-loading
rifle. It was manufacrured by the Ordnance Factories Board undr license though
DRDO claims that it is their brain child even today. It differs from the UK SLR
in that the wooden butt-stock uses the butt-plate from the Lee–Enfield with
trap for oil bottle and cleaning pull-through.
A proposal was sent by Army Headquarters for a shorter
weapon or a shorter version of the existing SLR for all the troops of
Mechanized Infantry Battalions to start with. DRDO and The directorate of EME
were tasked to identify and propose how best it could be done without much
financial implications.
It is important to know some basic technical specification
of the rifle here. Its overall length is 46.46 in or 1180 mm with barrel length
of 533 mm without flash eliminator and 616 mm with flash eliminator whose
length is 83 mm. The initial proposal of
DRDO to do away with the flash eliminator was quickly set aside for very
obvious reasons as it would give away the position of the soldier after the
first shot itself!
The DRDO then proposed that they would modify the existing 7.62 SLR by
reducing the length of the barrel to 16 inches. However, they would have to
modify the assembly line process to cut off the barrel to reduce its length,
cut groves for the flash eliminator and proposed a year for development ,
trials and testing and a fancy
escalation cost over the current PV rate for the Army.
The Army HQ sent the proposal to the Director General EME
for their study and recommendations who in turn forwarded the same to No 1 EME
Centre who are the final word in respect of Small Arms. It is the nodal agency
for training on repairs of Small Arms of not only Army but also of Police
forces. At one time even Naval and Air Force personnel were trained here till
they established their own raining facility. The No 3 Training Battalion was
and is the agency for Small Arms repairs and maintenance. And I was officiating
as the Commanding Officer of the Battalion when this paper was dent for our
views. I had a veteran specialist on Small Arms Lt. Col . Birender Singh , a
Para trooper as the Chief Instructor .
At the very outset, I was unhappy with the proposal of DRDO
as I thought it would be a great fallacy to tamper with technical parameter of
any system, more so a weapon where every part is engineered with great
precision. The effectiveness of a rifle
is based on its accuracy for a given range.
The range is decided by the muzzle velocity of the bullet as it leaves the
barrel. The propellant filled in the cartridge is designed to take the bullet
to the designed target to penetrate. Also the rear sight is aligned with the
foresight by adjusting the thumb screw to select the range from 200 yds to 600
yds in this weapon.
It immediately occurred to me that by shortening the barrel,
the muzzle velocity will reduce, there by its range and unless the rear
sight is calibrated for range , it will
lose both accuracy as well as effectiveness. I discussed these aspects with Lt.
Col Birender Singh and asked him whether he has any other alternative. He came up
with a brilliant idea.
As I said earlier in the Indian version of LIAI , the Butt
was modified to accommodate the Oil Bottle and pull through for cleaning the
barrel. While it is a necessity for an infantry soldier, a mechanized Infantry
soldier has a lot of space to keep them centrally in the Combat Vehicle itself.
Since he does not carry his Pack 08 or haversack as these can be held under the
seat , we could even make a small pouch to be fastened to the belt if it was
found absolutely essential to carry a pull through and oil bottle in combat! So we proposed to reduce the Length of the
Butt to the required overall length asked for by the Army HQ. I sent my
observations to EME Directorate and asked them permission to modify a weapon as
per our plan. It was agreed and the proposal was approved and sent to Army HQ
WE by the Directorate General EME.
Gen BC Joshi then Army Commander Southern Command ( later he
became COAS) visited the units and Establishments in Secunderabad. He as an
Armoured Corps officer and Army Commander has read these proposals of DRDO and
of DGEME. He visited the 3 Training
battalion specifically to see the modified weapon. I briefed him on the pros
and cons of DRDO proposal and emphasized that one should not disturb the basic
design of a weapon especially the barrel
length which is arrived at based on various other considerations of range, accuracy and effectiveness of the
bullet. In a lighter vein I said only criminals saw off the barrel to hide the
weapon for assassinations! He had a
hearty laugh but appreciated our view point. Based on the recommendations sent
by HQ Southern Command on the orders of Army Commander, the proposal of DRDO
was dropped and Mechanized Infantry was saved from getting sawed off 7.62 SLR .
In a few months time, I was posted and took over as
Commanding officer of an EME battalion to convert the Infantry Division EME Bn
to EME Battalion Rapid (S) in Western Command and Gen Joshi also moved as Army
Commander Western Command! He visited the formation to check on the progress of
the raising of the Armoured Brigade and the associated Armoured Workshop. It is another story
With this kind of technical expertise at their disposal, they convinced the MoD that they would develop a most modern weapon System and called it INSAS . How much money was poured into its development , production and scrapping it is another story! One can even read it in Wikipedia by searching for Insas weapon system!
