KOLKATA  (PTI):  An indigenously developed protective carbine has successfully cleared user trials meeting all the qualitative requirements, paving the way for its induction in the Army, an Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) official said here on Friday.

Jointly developed by the DRDO and the OFB, it had earlier cleared the trials of the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), deputy director general of OFB, Gagan Chaturvedi, said.

"The 5.56 x 30 mm Joint Venture Protective Carbine (JVPC) successfully cleared the final phase of the user trials meeting all the general service qualitative requirements, paving the way for its induction in the Army," he said.

The gas operated carbine with a semi bull-pup design has been jointly developed by the DRDO and the Ordnance Factory Board and is manufactured at the Small Arms Factory, Kanpur, while the ammunition is produced at the Ammunition Factory Khadki in Pune, Chaturvedi said.

With an effective range of more than 100 m and weighing less than 3 kg, the carbine is capable of penetrating a 3.5 mm mild steel plate and 23 layers of soft armour at 100 m, he said.

"A rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute and a 30-round all-steel magazine in addition to features such as high reliability, accuracy, low recoil, a retractable butt, ergonomic design, single handed firing capability and multiple picatinny rails make it a very versatile and lethal weapon," he said.

Chaturvedi said that the carbine was showcased and launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the DEFEXPO in Lucknow in February 2020 and is being issued to paramilitary forces and state police organisations.