Pistols manufactured by local firm sanctioned in US inducted by Army

The induction of the indigenous machine pistols predates the US sanctions, people aware of the matter said, asking not to be named.

The Indian Army on Tuesday announced it has inducted 550 locally made Asmi machine pistols into its Udhampur-based Northern Command, the nerve centre of counterterrorism operations in Jammu & Kashmir, adding that the induction of the weapon was a significant boost to self-reliance in the country’s defence manufacturing sector.

Pistols manufactured by local firm sanctioned in US inducted by Army

The machine pistols have been manufactured by Hyderabad-based Lokesh Machines, one of the 19 Indian firms sanctioned by the US government on October 30 for trading with Russian companies. The US government sanctioned nearly 400 entities and individuals, including the Indian companies, for “supporting Russia’s military industrial base”.

“In a significant boost to the nation’s #Atmanirbharta initiative, #IndianArmy inducted 550 ‘Asmi’ machine pistols into #NorthernCommand. The weapon which has been developed by Colonel Prasad Bansod of the #IndianArmy, in collaboration with #DRDO is being manufactured indigenously by Lokesh Machine #Hyderabad,” the army said in a post on X.

The machine pistol is a robust, compact and reliable weapon designed for close quarter battles and specialised operations, and its unique design allows for single-handed operation both as a pistol and sub-machine gun, the army further said.

The induction of the indigenous machine pistols predates the US sanctions, people aware of the matter said, asking not to be named.

On the numbers inducted, they said the weapon was ordered under the emergency procurement route to beef up the army’s military capabilities.

“There is a requirement for this class of weapons, and more could be ordered through the capital procurement route,” said one of the persons cited above.

“This 100% Made-in-India weapon’s induction demonstrates the unwavering commitment of #IndianArmy towards #AtmanirbharBharat to propel the Nation towards self-sufficiency in defence manufacturing,” the army wrote on X.

India has taken several measures in recent years to boost self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector, including phased bans on the import of hundreds of weapons and systems, and thousands of subsystems and components.

The other steps include creating a separate budget for buying locally made military hardware, increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) from 49% to 74% and improving ease of doing business.

India recorded the highest ever growth in the value of local defence production in the financial year 2023-24 on the back of enabling policy measures, with the figure reaching almost ₹1.27 lakh crore.

Of the total value of production in 2023-24, 79.2% was contributed by defence public sector undertakings and other PSUs, and the remaining 20.8% by the private sector, as previously reported by HT. The value of defence production was around 17% higher than in the previous financial year. India is eyeing a turnover of ₹1.75 lakh crore in defence manufacturing in the FY 2024-25.

India produces a raft of weapons and systems including the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), different types of helicopters, warships, tanks, artillery guns, warships, missiles, rockets and a variety of military vehicles.

Many of the 19 Indian companies that have been sanctioned by the US said that they were not really affected by the sanctions as they only dealt with Russia, and because the Indian government had not placed any restrictions on such commercial interactions, as reported by HT on November 2.