An inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to explore the possibility of setting up a joint venture (JV) for manufacturing the latest Russian Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles in India could be a part of the slew of agreement expected to be signed during President Putin’s visit to India today.

The AK103 is the third generation of the Kalashnikov assault rifles, an upgrade of the popular AK47 and AKM rifles of Russian origin.

The joint venture proposal is slated to be in response to an Indian MoD Request for Information (RFI) for procurement of 650 000 assault rifles of 7.62x39 mm caliber under ‘Make in India’ program. The IGA, if concluded, could lead to negotiations and the selection of an Indian partner for manufacturing the rifles in India.

At the ARMY-2018 international military exhibition in Russia this August head of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugaev has informed Indian media that that Russia’s Rosoboronexport could participate in the project to create an Indo-Russian Joint Venture to produce AK-103 rifles.

According to a source familiar with the issue, the IGA for the establishment of this JV to manufacture locally AK-103 rifles on the line of the Ka-226T helicopter JV is on the table and run-up talks to sign the IGA have already taken place.

“The IGA will have a plan for both joint production and joint development (modernisation). Within the joint development India will obtain all the intellectual property rights for jointly designed and developed product.

The Russian share in the JV as per the provisions of the Indian law is going to be 49.5% with the Indian public or private company’s share being the majority 50.5% of the registered capital.”

Once established, the JV could also explore modernisation of the Indian security establishment’s existing stock of 5.56mm calibre rifles to 7.62mm calibre. The JV will also have to explore export opportunities to third countries.

The Indian MoD is looking for two types of rifles; the first, a highly accurate rifle with a high rate of fire meant for front-line forces and the second, a lighter assault rifle meant for infantry troops. The AK-103 could fit the fill for the second type of requirement.

Recent reports say that the Indian MoD is looking for a replacement for its locally-made INSAS rifles made by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). It is probable that the OFB could be selected as a partner in the AK-103 program given its already established manufacturing infrastructure for the INSAS assault rifles.

The AK103 has plastic folding butt stock, an attachment for mounting under-barrel grenade launchers, and a standard mounting rail for installation of optical, collimator or night sights; a more sturdy breech locking assembly allowing the use of new higher-performance cartridges; lower total weight of simultaneously moving parts and a muzzle brake-compensator, increased weapon stability upon firing and lower fire dispersion in automatic fire mode.