SSS Defence Viper a Sub MoA precision sniper rifle chambered for the .3087.62x51 mm cartridge

The company already has an Assault Rifle on the 7.62x39 mm calibre and Close Quarter Battle Carbine platforms, which has recently completed development and is undergoing testing

For the first time ever a private sector company SSS  (Stumpp, Schuele & Somappa) Defence in India has made a sniper rifle in two calibres which have been designed and developed in India indigenously by a group of a passionate technical team at a laboratory in Bangalore.

The company SSS Defence besides holding the IPR has also got into a joint venture with the second largest ammunition manufacturer CBC Global Ammunition, Brazil. So far no Indian company was manufacturing military-grade ammunition for the small arms.

Under the joint venture, at an 80-acre Ammunition Factory near Anantpur, manufacturing of multiple ammunition for calibres – 9 mm, 7.62×39 mm, 7.62×51 mm, .338 Lapua and 12.7 mm for export markets and domestic demand (military and law enforcement) will start.

So far the company has invested around Rs 20 crore in all aspects of R&D and IP asset creation spread across all their verticals – Small Arms, Optics, and Ammunition.

Dinesh Shivanna, Chief Technology Officer, Satish R Machani, Managing Director and Vivek Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer of SSS Defence 

Says the company’s CEO Vivek Krishnan: “Two high-end sniper rifles of calibre 7.62×51 mm and .338 Lapua Magnum platforms have been developed and each rifle uses a barrelled action that is inspected, gauged, and hand-worked and accrued.”

The focus of the company, according to officials is to create a manufacturing and exporting hub for weapons like snipers being made in India and to help in stopping India’s dependency on foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for a top of the line weapons, optics and ammunition.

The trigger is an indigenously designed two-stage trigger and the rifle is provided with a highly efficient muzzle brake and sound suppressor. And have been designed for accurate and dependable long-range precision shooting and come with high performance bolt action and provide military users with many other critical operational features.

The `Viper’ chambered for the .308 (7.62×51 mm cartridge) and the `Sabre’ .338 Lapua Magnum Cartridge (8.6×70 mm cartridge) are popular among Military and law enforcement Snipers across the world. The rifle platforms provide precision long-range rifle shooters with consistent sub-MOA precision.

According to the company, the .338 Lapua Magnum sniper weapon has exhibited high performance on 1500 metres range while that calibre for the 7.62×51 for distances greater than 1,000 metres. Based on the mission criteria and the different environments, in which these can be used, the barrel length options range from 20 inches to 24 inches. Both these snipers which are currently undergoing extensive trials are ergonomically designed for the Indian soldiers by taking into consideration the height, arm length & finger length etc.

The company already has an Assault Rifle on the 7.62×39 mm calibre and Close Quarter Battle Carbine platforms, which has recently completed development and is undergoing testing.

As has been reported earlier, the Indian Army has already started acquiring sniper rifles made by Italian and American companies to complement Russian built Dragunov Designated Marksman rifles.

There is a need for 5,719 rifles after the Indian Army scrapped an earlier tender as none of the competitors were making their own ammunition.

Also, there are plans to have an 80,000 sqft Arms Factory at Jigani which will be dedicated to manufacturing of arms which will manufacture 15000 arms per annum from day one during Phase 1, 45,000 arms per annum in Phase 2 (January 2022) and scale it up to 80,000 arms per annum in some years as Phase 3.