Excalibur Rifle

The Excalibur is an assault rifle derived from the INSAS rifle, the standard rifle of the Indian Armed Forces and, to a lesser extent, the Indian Police Service. The Excalibur has many improvements over the INSAS rifle and was slated to replace it as the Indian Army's standard assault rifle; however, the Indian Army put the replacement out to tender in September 2016. Many police forces in India have procured the Excalibur in limited numbers.

It is manufactured by Ordnance Factory Board in Rifle Factory Ishapore.

History

The Indian Army used the INSAS rifle from the late 1990s, and the rifle saw action during the Kargil War. The INSAS was said to be plagued with many reliability issues like cracking of the polymer magazines because of cold weather, oil being sprayed in the user's eyes and the rifle going into automatic mode when set on 3-round burst (the INSAS does not have an automatic mode).

In November 2011, the Indian Army sent a request for proposal (RFP) to 34 vendors for 65,678 multi-calibre rifles for about crore ( million). The tender also included a license to manufacture about 100,000 more rifles in India, with a total expenditure of the phasing out estimated at crore ( million). Similar tenders for a carbine and a LMG were also issued. However, the Army sent a letter to the manufacturers on 15 June 2015, to notify them that the tender had been retracted. In July 2015, it was reported that the INSAS may be replaced by the Modified INSAS rifle (MIR), which is based on the Excalibur. The decision was taken by General Dalbir Singh, who wanted an indigenous rifle.

After cancelling the tender, the army decided to pursue the new Excalibur rifle developed by the ARDE as a replacement for the older INSAS rifles.

On 3 July 2016, the Indian media reported that the Indian Army had rejected the Excalibur for its standard issue assault rifle as it did not match the requirements standard of the army.

In September 2016 the Indian Army announced that it was launching a tender for 185,000 7.62×51mm-caliber assault rifles. The Indian Army in October 2016 announced that Excalibur rifles will be adopted as an interim assault rifle until a suitable replacement is found.

In June 2017, the Excalibur was announced to have failed tests due to concerns about quality control and ineffective firepower.

In July 2018, the Indian Army announced that plans to adopt the Excalibur will not proceed.

Design

Design of the assault rifle first started in 2004.

Prototype

The prototype incorporates a direct gas-tapping angle to reduce the recoil. The rifle would have automatic and single shot modes. The three-round burst mode of the INSAS has been dropped. The rifle would have a folding butt and a standard Picatinny rail. By September 2015, it had passed the water and mud tests, which four of the foreign rifles in the tender competition had failed. It was also reported 200 rifles were being manufactured and that prototype would undergo formal trials in late 2015.

Tests

The MIR had two stoppages after firing 24,000 rounds, which was very close the army's specification of one stoppage. It was also reported that another prototype of Excalibur, AR-2, was being prepared which would fire 7.62×39mm rounds.

Final

The final designs incorporated picatinny rails on the upper receiver with an improved design for the polycarbonate magazine.

Operators

;

* Assam Police
* Chhattisgarh Armed Force, Chhattisgarh Police
* Karnataka Police
* Manipur Police
* West Bengal Police

Failed Contracts

* Indian Army

References

External links

*

{{commons category, Excalibur (assault rifle)

Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2017
5.56×45mm NATO assault rifles
Assault rifles of India