Thakur_B wrote:Pratyush wrote:Interesting that corner shot is also present and accounted for. This means that inspite of a lot of clamour of forces being starved if basic weapons, the right weapons for the job are reaching the men.
THe cornershot is the original Israeli one, not the one made by ARDE.
MHA has been more active than the MoD in procurement of small arms.
ITBP fielded Arsenal UBGLs on INSAS and AKMs before army inducted ARDE's UBGL and also purchased ARDE UBGL when it became available.
CRPF and CISF field Glocks while even Para SF haven't been able to replace their Hi-powers despite trying.
CRPF fielded kevlar helmets before Army.
X95, MP5 and MX4 have largely replaced sterling in frontline duty in BSF, ITBP, CRPF and CISF.
MHA procurement makes MoD procurement look like all fart and no sh*t.
Regarding ITBP, BSF , CRPF and CISF: Just my personal observations from my trips to some border areas and other places where these forces are deployed.
Sterling is in service even in highly sensitive areas like in Srinagar and nearby towns. BSF do have have a few MX4 every now and then. But majority of CRPF troops (unless they have INSAS) have old Sterlings and a very small minority have Tavor derivatives. CISF usually have INSAS, AKs and MP5s. Never seen MP5 these with other three forces.
CRPF troops deployed in Kashmir towns and villages have fairly good anti-riot gear like armour, transparent shields, tear gas launchers, pellet guns and helmets. But not so sure about modern helmets.
ITBP near Indo - Tibet border mostly have INSAS.
Haven't had the chance to see RR troops with full battle gear in a long time but they look really intimidating while on patrols or missions.
There are a lot of black INSAS visible, but never had the chance to check if they are Ghatak or Excalibur. INSAS LMG with bipod is sighted every now and then on small vehicles or trucks.
I had the chance to see BSF battalion setting up a camp near Pahalgam just before Amarnath yatra started earlier this year. They have a pretty good selection of firearms. Didn't want to push my luck taking pictures.