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In a previous post, I mentioned that the Indian Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is perhaps the largest firearms manufacturer in the world. But, OFB isn’t the only decision maker when it comes to Indian small arms development – there is also DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation).
At DEFEXPO 2020, DRDO had its own hall, where several interesting small arms were demonstrated. The first one was an assault rifle chambered for 6.8×43 mm Remington SPC round.
6.8 SPC assault rifle
Very little information is available about it, unfortunately, I also couldn’t find any information about the domestic manufacturing capabilities of this round in India.
The weapon itself has a couple of interesting features – translucent magwell which in addition to half-translucent mags allows the shooter to see ammunition loaded at the top of the magazine.
6.8 SPC assault rifle – left side
Some might argue that a normal translucent magazine achieves the same goal, but it is certainly an original idea.
6.8 SPC assault rifle – right side
The ergonomics of the rifle also look unconventional. There is what looks like a bolt release on the left side of the receiver, another button on the left side of the trigger guard and what looks like a mag release on the right side of the receiver. My attempts to figure out the exact purpose of those controls were futile since DRDO employees enforced the policy of “you can look but you cannot touch“.
The technical specifications of the rifle and an awesome picture of Indian soldiers who looks like a hip-firing henchman from the 80s movie can be found below.
6.8 SPC assault rifle – specs
If you know anything about modern Indian small arms, you heard about JVPC/MSMC Carbine – a completely unique short and compact PDW chambered for proprietary Indian 5.56×30 round.
JVPC weapons specs
JVPC accessories
Unfortunately, I personally never had a chance to test it, so if you would like to know more about JVPC, please check out this great post by There is a lot of amazing information there, from the cultural impact of this weapon to detailed disassembly, all thanks to Sandeep Unnithan.
I had a chance to meet Sandeep, and, in my opinion, he is the best and most knowledgeable Indian defense writer and author, and if you’re interested in the Indian defense industry, you should definitely check out his articles and videos.
