Israeli rifles appear in Kashmir Page 1 of 2

Israeli rifles appear in Kashmir

Haroon Mirani

Srinagar, Thursday, March 01, 2008:

Israel made Tavor

assault rifles have
begun to appear in
Indian administered
Kashmir, with Indian
troops using these in
operations against
guerrillas in the region.

The rifles developed by

Israel for usage in
urban warfare, are part
of the India's strategy to
modernise its army,
especially while dealing
with insurgencies in the An Indian trooper with TAR-21 More pictures
country.

On Friday Indian troops in southern district Shopian of Indian

administered Kashmir were seen holding TAR-21 (Tavor Assault
Rifle for 21'st century).

The rifle which costs around US $6500 is one of the most modern
assault rifles available in the world.

Tavor uses the compact Bull pup design and has improved hit
accuracy.

It can accommodate a 30 round magazine and sustain a rate of fire

of 750 - 900 rounds per minute.

The 2.8 kg dark green Tavor rifle is also designed for night fighting.

The army hopes that its ergonomics, reliability in heat and sand,
and fast-point/ fast-shoot design might give them an edge in close-
quarters shootouts and employment from inside vehicles.

The army hopes to have an edge over insurgents armed with AK

rifles.

The Tavor rifles were designed by Israel Military Industries (IMI,

now TAAS) company, in close cooperation with the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF) during 1990's.

In 2002 India signed a deal with Israel for the purchase of 3070
Tavor assault rifles worth US $ 20 million.

Army is on a modernisation spree and is trying to replace its aging

weaponry particularly

Israel too has replaced their Colt M4/M16 rifles with compact
Tavors.

The consignment of these rifles was given to Indian army after a

long delay.

After signing the deal, Israel Military Industries (IMI) had only
initially supplied 350-400 TAR-21s without grenade launchers to
India's northern Special Frontier Force (SFF).

http://www.kashmirnewz.com/n000336.html 05/14/2008
Israeli rifles appear in Kashmir Page 2 of 2

The rifles were declared 'operationally unsatisfactory' and India also

claimed damages for delay.

However new supplies with improved designs followed.

According to reports, India currently has seven Special Forces

battalions, which according to the army's newly released doctrine,
will be employed for specialised tasks behind enemy lines, to fight
insurgencies in Indian administered Kashmir and the northeastern
states.

Some of these forces were trained by the Israelis in anti-insurgency

operations, official reports said.

IMI had also supplied around 130 Galil 7.62 sniper riles and around
450,000 rounds of ammunition to the SFF and the army for $1.4
million in 2005.

It also showed interest in the newer version of Tavor Micro/ MTAR

(9mm version) for its special forces and parachute regiments.

India is trying to replace the outdated World War II Stenguns and

other similar weapons still in use with the army, paramilitary units
and state police forces.

Georgia, Portugal and Israel are the only other countries that use
variants of the Tavor rifle.

http://www.kashmirnewz.com/n000336.html 05/14/2008