Aiming to enhance operational preparedness and boost India’s defence sector, Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, handed over the much-awaited Made-in-India defence systems- the F-INSAS (The Future Infantry Soldier as a System), the Nipun mines and the Landing Craft Assault (LCA) to the Indian Army.
Army Chief General Manoj Pande and Lieutenant General Harpal Singh along with several Defence staff personnel were present at the ceremony. Further, an army soldier briefed the defence minister Rajnath Singh about the newly inducted indigenously-developed arms and ammunitions and how it will intensify the infrastructural scope of the military.
In a tweet, Rajnath Singh cited, “These systems will enhance the operational preparedness of the Army and help them to deal with future challenges.”
Meanwhile, Lt General Harpal Singh asserted, “The Union government has taken several policy decisions to help promote indigenisation of the Defence sector. These weapons include mines, weapons of face-to-face combat & infantry combat vehicles.”
He further said,” Army is ready to deal with any possible security threat whether it is the western desert (Pakistan) or the high-altitude areas (China) in the Ladakh region.”
The F-INSAS is a modernised infantry tool to strengthen the functional aptitude of the soldier. Equipped with recent arrangements, F-INSAS will be light-weighted in appearance, all-weather-all terrain based, economical and require low maintenance.
This modernised equipment comprises- an AK-203 assault rifle- a Russian-origin gas-operated magazine-fed, select-fire assault rifle that can operate within a range of 300 metres- as well as a ballistic helmet to safeguard the skull and head, ballistic goggles, a bulletproof jacket for protection. It also includes elbow pads and knee pads.
The anti-personnel Nipun landmines are actually an alternative arrangement for the vintage NMM 14 mines, which are to be used as anti-tank mines to attack heavy vehicles. Proportionally, they are smaller in size and could be deployed at many areas.
The LCA has been indigenously built by M/s Aquarius Ship Yard Limited based in Goa and carries the ability to overcome utmost limitations, for instance, launch, speed and capacity. It can surmount all kinds of water-based hindrances that exist near eastern Ladakh regions.
The mission was envisaged in the early years of 2000 by DRDO (the Defence Research and Development Organisation) in accordance with an aim to augment the performance of the armed forces across the full spectrum.
This project is also in concurrence with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oath for making India an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
