#IndianDefenseProcurementSoapOpera

The single-shot, disposable, recoilless smoothbore 84 mm anti-tank weapon AT4 made by SAAB has a new customer on the list. The Indian Armed Forces have ordered an unknown amount of the model AT4CS AST, to be used by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. In total, more than 1 million AT4’s have been produced.

After you’ve been to dozens of defense expos all around the globe, you don’t really expect to see anything new and exciting. The time when “big reveals” of new products were done at exhibitions are almost gone, there is the internet for that. And DEFEXPO was no exception until I walked into a booth of  SSS Defense.

At the moment, the Indian Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is the largest firearms manufacturer on our planet. With over 80 000 employees, 41 factories and 9 Training Institutes it dwarfs any other firearms manufacturer in any other country. And DEFEXPO exhibition is perhaps the only way for the general public to see OFB’s latest developments and products. This year the biggest premiere was the OFB designed CQB carbine chambered for 5.56×45.

In the mid-2000s, India began looking for a carbine to replace their 9mm L2A3 Sterling submachine guns which they inherited from the United Kingdom. Two weapons were developed, one by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), and another by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a subdivision of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The Ordnance Factory Board produced the AMOGH carbine, while the DRDO produced the Modern Sub Machine Carbine (MSMC, also known as the Joint Venture Protective Carbine, or JVPC). These weapons reportedly competed against each other, and by the early 2010s, the MSMC had been selected as the Sterling replacement.

In the mid-2000s, India began looking for a carbine to replace their 9mm L2A3 Sterling submachine guns which they inherited from the United Kingdom. Two weapons were developed, one by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), and another by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a subdivision of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The Ordnance Factory Board produced the AMOGH carbine, while the DRDO produced the MSMC. These weapons reportedly competed against each other, and by the early 2010s, the MSMC had been selected as the Sterling replacement. However, the AMOGH is still being marketed to customers by the OFB, and has reportedly been purchased by the Indian Coast Guard.