In what could be seen as another milestone in India's push for self-reliance in defence manufacturing, particularly in the small arms segment, Bengaluru-headquartered domestic original equipment manufacturer (OEM) SSS Defence revealed that its .308 Viper sniper rifle will enter service with two Indian police forces.
"Been 9 years since the @sssdefence Viper was born. It’ll finally go into service with 2 amazing police forces in less than a month," Vivek Krishnan said in a social media post.
While he did not name the two police forces, he said a generation of young weapon designers and engineers gave the weapon a new essence.
"I love the new spirit, it’s infectious. This is not India that apologises, explains or asks permission. It’s unabashedly, unapologetically, unmistakably BHARAT," he said in a tweet.
He further wrote: "And we will not change the weapon’s name. It will forever be the Viper. A sticker is not a soul. The honesty of knowing what is yours & what is not is wisdom that the Bhagavad Gita teaches. Some missed that chapter. I pray every day that we have memory of our origin."
The .308 Viper is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in 7.62×51 mm calibre and features a 24-inch (609.6 mm) barrel.
The rifle is equipped with a 5- or 10-round magazine configuration and has a trigger pull weight ranging between 2 and 3.5 pounds, according to the SSS Defence website.
According to its specifications, the weapon is capable of delivering 1 MOA (minute of angle) accuracy, while the overall length of the platform is 1,200 mm, and its weight stands at 6.4 kg.
The rifle is also supported by a range of advanced accessories and upgrades, including high-flow-rate suppressors designed to reduce backpressure and muzzle flash, cold hammer-forged chrome-lined precision barrels for enhanced durability, and modular upgrade kits featuring drop-in trigger assemblies and handguard systems, the website states.
It additionally comes with hard-anodised Picatinny and M-LOK optic rails, enabling integration of thermal optics and other modern battlefield accessories.
