Atmanirbhar Defence: All about DRDO's new assault rifle 'Ugram' made for Indian Army

Looking at the demand for small arms among security forces, the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has launched an indigenous assault rifle named “Ugram” (meaning ferocious). Developed in less than 100 days, the new rifle was launched by Dr SV Gade, Director General (Armament and Combat Engineering Cluster) in the presence of Ankathi Raju, Director (ARDE), other senior scientists of the lab and industrial representatives. Here’s all we know about the indigenous rifle. All about DRDO’s new rifle, “Ugram” The Ugram rifle has been developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune, a premier laboratory of DRDO, and Hyderabad-based private firm Dvipa Armour India Private Limited (DAIPL), according to ANI. For those unversed, ARDE is a state-of-the-art setup for manufacturing small arms barrels which is aligned with the project objective to become a nodal centre for barrel manufacturing in the country and to extend the facilities to the private firms. The latest assault rifle is intended to meet the operational requirements of the armed forces, paramilitary forces, and police forces, the report said. It has been tailored to meet the Indian Army’s General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR), one of the initial processes in capital procurement. It underlines why the equipment is required, its physical and operational information, maintainability and quality requirements. Features of the rifle The Ugram is a state-of-the-art assault rifle of 7.62 x 51 mm calibre, making it more ferocious than rifles that use 5.62 mm calibre rounds like the INSAS rifle which is popularly used by the Indian armed forces including paramilitary forces, according to NDTV. The rifle has an effective range of 500 metres, or approximately five football fields, and weighs four kilogrammes, ANI reported. The rifle has a 20-round magazine and fires in both automatic and single modes. Its configuration is based on the latest AK and AR-type rifles/carbines, characterised by a rivet-free design that ensures sturdiness. How it was developed in just 100 days While speaking to the Indian Express, ARDE director Raju explained that “this was a mission-mode project taken up two years ago.” “After the ARDE designed the rifle, we started looking for a private industry partner for development and manufacturing,” he said. “We have followed the concept of Development cum Production Partner, DcPP for the speedy progress of the project. Under this, the vendor is associated with us during the design and production too. After the product is made by the vendor, it will undergo acceptance trials. We placed the order for the assault rifle to the Hyderabad-based Dvipa Armour. The rifle will soon go for trials,” the ARDE director added. Notably, the new assault rifle has been developed in 100 days. According to The Times of India, it will now undergo trials to test its operational capability in conditions like harsh winters, extreme heat, and underwater. It’s testing Speaking about the trials, according to the Free Press Journal, Raju said, “A set number of rounds will be fired from Ugram without stoppage, and accuracy and consistency checks will be conducted.” Hindustan Times also quoted him as saying that during the trial, the number of rounds to be fired, heating of the target, dimensions, and distribution of the bullet impact will also be checked. “The weapon will be tested in various weather and geographic conditions, including high altitude, desert, etc. A board of Army officers will be constituted for the acceptance procedure,” Raju added, as per FPJ. He further stressed the importance of compliance, saying, “If some non-compliances are found, we will have to address them at a specific time, and the trials will be redone.” Producing more assault rifles According to Times Now, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in December 2023 approved the procurement of an additional 70,000 US-made SIG Sauer rifles. These rifles reportedly are of the same calibre as that of Ugram. The first batch of 72,400 SIG716 rifles value US $90 million in 2020 using the Fast Track Procurement procedure, which aims to replace the age-old INSAS rifle (still in service and made its battle debut during the Kargil conflict in 1999), reported NDTV. India has also partnered with Vladimir Putin-led Russia to develop the AK-203 rifle of 7.62 mm calibre which has an effective range of 300 metres. Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) is reportedly a joint venture company established for indigenous production of AK-type rifles. They are currently being manufactured and tested at an Indo-Russia joint venture in Uttar Pradesh’s Korwa. “The AK-203 project has not taken off because of the Russia-Ukraine war and PLR is supplying weapons to the Israel Weapon Industries because of the Israel-Hamas conflict. So this window of opportunity has come up,” said G Ram Chaitanya Reddy, DAIPL director told Indian Express. He added, “Three months ago, in October 2023, we received the order. And we have successfully given out prototypes. We believe this is the fastest development of a weapon anywhere in the world.” With inputs from agencies