Responses to India's RFP seeking 5,719 sniper rifles are due by 12 December

by Rahul Bedi

The new weapons would replace India's Soviet-era Dragonov SVD rifles that were procured in the 1980s

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has invited responses by 12 December from overseas manufacturers to its request for proposals (RFP) for 5,719 8.6 mm sniper rifles and 10.2 million rounds of ammunition for the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) in a deal worth more than USD 40 million.

Official sources said the 'restricted' RFP, which Jane's has learned was released on 19 September, also mandated the indigenous licensed manufacture of five million rounds of .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition under a transfer of technology to India's state-owned Ordnance Factory Board and private-sector manufacturers.