Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifle. IMAGE: kalashnikov.media
On March 3, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Kalashnikov plant which is set to produce 750,000 AK-203 assault rifles for the army locally. These assault rifles will be supplied to the Indian Armed Forces.
The Kalashnikov plant is located in the town of Amethi in the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The plant licensed to produce AK-203s is jointly run by India’s Ordnance Factory Board and Russia’s Kalashnikov Concern.
The AK-203 is based upon AK-100 series assault rifles which, in turn, inherited many properties of the older AK-74 version. The muzzle velocity and reliability largely remained the same. However, its accuracy and ergonomics improved dramatically.
