AK-203 Assault Rifles to be Made in India at Korwa, U.P.

Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between India’s Ordnance Factory Board, Russia’s Rosoboronexport and JSC Kalashnikov Concern, will soon produce the Avtomat Kalashnikova AK — 203 Assault Rifles at Korwa, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, India.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the joint venture to the nation at an event in Amethi. Speaking at the event he said that this development has been long delayed. He said that this delay in the production of modern rifles for our soldiers, actually amounts to an injustice to the jawans.

“The commissioning of the JV for production of the AK203 is by all means a milestone in our partnership under the Make in India initiative. The plant in Korwa is one of the most advanced OFB’s small arms enterprises already in operation. With production of 750 thousand pieces approved, major components for them will come mostly from India. Nobody has offered India such deep and thorough localization opportunity with a rather high production quantity involved and it is unlikely that somebody will in the near future. The capacity of the plant is sufficient to arm the personnel of all security agencies in India. Should it become necessary, the parties will be able to ratchet up the production output and upgrade the facility to manufacture future models based on Kalashnikov’s unique design,” says Alexander Mikheev, Rosoboronexport’s CEO.

The 200-series Kalashnikovs were unveiled abroad in 2019. The weapons made their debut at IDEX 2019 in the UAE and Aero India 2019 in Bangalore.

“Military and technical cooperation has traditionally been one of the key areas of special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India. For more than seven decades, we have been supplying reliable and high-quality armaments and equipment to Indian friends. Around 170 military and industrial facilities have been set up in India with assistance from our country,” read a message from Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian federation.

Addressing the gathering, the India’s Prime Minister thanked President Putin for this partnership. He said lakhs of rifles will be made from this facility in Amethi, and will strengthen our security forces.

“The new joint venture will manufacture world famous Kalashnikov assault rifles of the newest 200 series and eventually will reach full localisation of production. Thus, the Indian defence-industrial sector will have the opportunity to fulfil the needs of national security agencies in this category of small arms, resting upon advanced Russian technologies,” read the message from Vladimir Putin.

Major milestones enroute to the JV include a Government-to-Government Agreement, shareholders’ agreement, approval of the JV Charter, as well as registration of the enterprise in India.

“India is the first country to have launched production of the 200-series of the world-famous Kalashnikov brand. We sincerely congratulate our Indian colleagues and citizens of Uttar Pradesh on this remarkable occasion, stressing a high level of trust and unquestionable strategic partnership between India and Russia in the defense and security domain,” notes Alexander Mikheev.

India has, over several decades, imported the AK-47, AK-56 and AK-74 for the armed forces. The joint venture will manufacture 750,000 AK-203 rifles for the Indian Army. It will also cater to the requirements of the paramilitary and the state police forces. Export options will also be considered.

India has also manufactured variants and derivatives of the AK-47, a gas-operated, 7.62×39mm assault rifle which was originally designed in the late 1940s in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov : INSAS (fixed and side-folding stock), KALANTAK (carbine), INSAS light machine gun (fixed and side-folding stock), a local unlicensed version with carbon fibre furniture designated as AK-7; and Trichy Assault Rifle 7.62 mm manufactured by Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli of Ordnance Factories Board.

Korwa is a town in Amethi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which is home to HAL’s Avionics Division that has produced DARIN upgrade for the SEPECAT Jaguar and supplied similar electronic systems for MiG-27 aircraft.