F-INSAS, Nipun mines, LCA — the new systems handed over to the Army

Context

The Defence Minister handed over new weapons – the Nipun mines, the Landing Craft Assault (LCA) and the F-INSAS system – to the Army.

F-INSAS stands for Future Infantry Soldier As A System, a programme for infantry modernisation aimed at increasing the operational capability of the soldier.
As part of the project, soldiers are being equipped with modern systems that are lightweight, all-weather-all-terrain, cost-effective and low maintenance.
The full-gear of the F-INSAS system includes an AK-203 assault rifle, which is a Russian-origin gas-operated, magazine-fed, select-fire assault rifle.

It has a range of 300 metre, and is being made at Korwa near Amethi in a Russia-India joint venture.
A contract for over six lakh AK-203 rifles was signed in December last year between the Ministry of Defence and the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL).

On the weaponry front, other than the AK-203, the F-INSAS includes a multi-mode hand grenade, which can be used in defensive and offensive modes.

In defensive mode, the grenades are to be hurled when the thrower is in a shelter or has a cover, while the target is in the open and can be harmed by fragmentation.
In the offensive mode, the grenades do not fragment and the adversary is harmed by the blast or is stunned. The weapon kit also has a multi-purpose knife for close quarters combat.

Apart from this, the F-INSAS provides soldiers with ballistic helmets and ballistic goggles for protection against small projectiles and fragments, along with a bullet-proof vest.

The helmet and the bullet-proof jacket are capable of protecting the soldier against 9 mm bullets and ammunition fired from AK-47 rifles.
For target acquisition, the soldier has rifle-mounted holographic sight for fast and accurate aiming with a range of 200 metre.
The helmet has a mounted night-vision device for operating in low-light conditions, and the option of installing a thermal imager sight.
Thermal imagers convert infrared energy from objects into thermal images.

The F-INSAS also comes with hands-free, secured advanced communications set for real-time exchange of information with the command post and fellow soldiers for enhanced situational awareness.
All these items have been sourced from Defence Public Sector Undertakings, and private Indian industries.

They have been indigenously designed by the Indian entities, including the DRDO and the ordnance factories ecosystem.

Conceived in the 2000s, F-INSAS is one among many soldier modernisation programmes across the world.
The US has Land Warrior, while the UK has FIST (Future Integrated Soldier Technology).
According to estimates, over 20 armies around the world are following such programmes.
The DRDO had conceptualised the F-INSAS (not to be confused with INSAS or Indian Small Arms System) in line with the targets of the Army’s Infantry Soldier Modernisation Programme with an aim to optimise the soldier’s performance across the full spectrum and duration of a military operation.

Nipun mines are indigenously designed and developed anti-personnel mines, termed by the DRDO as ‘soft target blast munition’.
These mines are meant to act as the first line of defence against infiltrators and enemy infantry.
They have been developed with the efforts of Armament Research and Development Establishment, a Pune-based DRDO facility, and Indian industry.
They are smaller in size and can be deployed in large numbers.
The mine will provide protection to the troops on the borders and is more potent and effective than the existing anti-personnel mine in its arsenal.

The Landing Craft Assault (LCA) is meant to serve as a replacement for the boats with limited capabilities currently in use in the Pangong Tso lake.
The LCA, which has been indigenously developed by Goa-based Aquarius ShipYard Limited, is said to have better launch, speed and capacity to operate across water obstacles in eastern Ladakh.
Similar vessels are already in operation in the Indian Navy.