Article Posted on : - Oct 13, 2009

The Modern Sub-Machine Carbine guns of Indian Army.

NEW DELHI (PTI): With the armed and state police forces looking to procure close-quarter combat guns in the post 26/11 security scenario, the Defence Research and Development Organisation has come up with a 5.56 mm calibre Modern Sub-Machine Carbine (MSMC) and is expecting it to be inducted in the Army soon.

Developed by DRDO's Pune-based Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), MSMC will be sent for final field trials to the Army in December, DRDO officials said here.

The previous three trials of the gun were carried out at Army's Infantry School in Mhow and have been quite successful in meeting their requirements, they added.

Carbine is a lightweight compact semi-automatic gun with a small barrel and fires rapidly and is suitable for close quarter combats.

At present, the Indian Army Special Forces have Israeli-made Tavor and Uzi guns and the paramilitary forces use German-made MP-5 guns.

Commenting on the main features of the gun, the officials said the MSMC has the potential of being “weapon of choice” for the Special Forces and quick-reaction teams operating against terrorists in urban and semi-urban backdrop.

The MSMC has ambidextrous features and soldiers would be able to fire it with one hand also, officials said.

Size of the gun can also be adjusted according to different situations in which the troops operate, they added.

MSMC is an off-shoot of the Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) family of weapons, which was an attempt to produce small arms indigenously.

Prior to developing the MSMC, DRDO was working on an INSAS Carbine but the programme was shelved after the Army issued new requirements for the gun.

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