Light, lethal, local: DRDO's assault weapon CQB carbine is 'one of the best in its class'

The Armament Research and Development Establishment, a wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has come up with a compact, lightweight gun, which is expected to be highly potent in close-range, urban warfare scenarios. 

The close-quarter battle (CQB) carbine is designed for meeting the operational needs of the armed forces, especially for urban warfare, anti-terror operations, and close-quarters engagements where maneuverability, speed, and precision are critical.

DRDO said Bharat Forge has emerged in the "L1" category in a tendering process for procurement for the Indian Army.

Director General of Armament & Combat Engineering Systems (ACE), DRDO, Prateek Kishore said this is an achievement for the DRDO and the Indian industry together.

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"It's an extremely proud moment for the country as well as for the DRDO. It's a very compact weapon with a range of 200 meters and a weight of about 3.3 kilograms. It has a very unique feature that it can fire both NATO ammunition and INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) ammunition, making it one of its own class," he observed.

He said the gun has been performance evaluated as per the international parameters, and meets the requirements of the world's best in its class weapon.

The design and development of the gun is in line with the self-reliance initiative of the government of India.