Vidhwansak (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: "The Destroyer") is an Indian multi-caliber

anti-materiel rifle An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware (materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elimi ...

(AMR) or large-caliber sniper rifle manufactured by

Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory ...

. It can be used in the anti-materiel role for destroying enemy bunkers, lightly armoured vehicles, radar systems, communication equipment, parked aircraft, fuel storage facilities, etc. It is also effective in long-range sniping, counter sniping and ordnance disposal roles.

Development

The Ordnance Factory Tiruchirapalli in association with the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...

developed an anti-materiel rifle Vidhwansak in November 2005. The

Denel Denel SOC Ltd is a South African state-owned aerospace and military technology conglomerate established in 1992. It was created when the manufacturing subsidiaries of Armscor were split off in order for Armscor to become the procurement agency ...

NTW-20 rifle was used as a starting point for the design. After all-terrain and all-weather trials, the user trials began in March 2006. Production began in February 2007. After trials, the

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

ordered 100 Vidhwansaks for use in the border areas. These were supplied by October 2008. The rifle has also been offered to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and the

National Security Guards The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, for combating terrorist activities and p ...

. However, the Indian Army chose not to bring the Vidhwansak into use as it did not meet the weight requirements. It is being sold at the cost of Rs 10 lakh (about $20,000) as compared to the Denel NTW-20 AMR, which costs Rs 23 lakhs (about $45,000) as of 2011.Due to indigenisation of this weapon, foreign exchange worth over 90 million USD would be saved.

Features

Vidhwansak is a manually operated, rotating

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

rifle. The barrel along with the receiver recoil inside the chassis frame against a damping system. The rifle is fed from a detachable box magazine that is inserted from the left side. The rifle can be quickly disassembled and can be carried in two man-portable packs, each weighing about 12 to 15 kg. A

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

is fitted on the end of the barrel which absorbs an estimated 50-60% of recoil. This is further supplemented by a buffered slide in the receiver. Vidhwansak is equipped with an 8X magnification, long-eye-relief telescopic sight with parallax adjustment. A 12X ballistic scope can also be attached. The rifle has an effective range of 1,800 m (1,300 m for the 20 mm version), while shots can be achieved even up to 2,000 m. The rifle is magazine fed, and reloaded through manual

bolt action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-actio ...

Variants

The Vidhwansak can be easily converted between the three calibers - 12.7 mm, 14.5 mm and 20 mm - by replacing the barrel, bolt and magazine, which takes about one minute in the field, without the need for any specialized tools.

Specifications

The following are current specifications of the Vidhwansak AMR:

Users

* :

References

External links

* * {{Ordnance Factories Board 12.7 mm sniper rifles 20 mm artillery 20mm sniper rifles Bolt-action rifles of India Defence Research and Development Organisation Anti-materiel rifles