Bharat Forge has been granted a licence by the ministry of home affairs for small arms and ammunition, which will enable it to participate in potential defence programmes in future. The small arms portfolio being developed by the group includes the assault rifle (AR) and light machine gun (MG), carbine and pistol.
These include the AR 7.62mm AR-MSF41, the light MG 7.62mm MG-MR and the CQB Carbine 5.56 X 45 mm F90. The Protective Carbine 5.56 X 30 mm was developed and manufactured for DRDO and Bharat Forge was the only private company manufacturing a complete weapon for DRDO. The lightweight 5.56 x 45 mm Carbine is being designed and developed by DRDO’s ARDE lab and manufactured by Kalyani Group.
The company was also making the Caliber 9mm/45ACP pistol weapon in association with HS Produkt Croatia. Kalyani Strategic Systems. (KSSL), the defence arm of Kalyani Group, and Arsenal Joint Stock Company, Bulgaria signed an MoU in 2020 to form a strategic alliance for manufacturing small arms and ammunition.
The KSSL and Arsenal tie-up was for manufacturing capability in India for the “AR” 7.62 x 39mm Assault Rifle and “MG” 7.62 x 51mm Machine Gun series. Arsenal small arms have been in active operations in India for decades and have a proven record of performance.
Rajinder Singh Bhatia, chairman KSSL had said the strategic alliance would provide indigenously manufactured, desired high performance and economic solutions for the armed forces and further the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.