Although China has repeatedly expressed its willingness to get along with each other, the Indian side has never appreciated it, and this is not, they have opened a new round of provocations at the border. According to the Economic Times of India recently reported, Lieutenant General Manoje Pande, commander of India's eastern army, said that a large number of new types of equipment are entering the troops deployed at the border, such as the elite unit of the 17th Strike Force at the border, which includes new unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-drone systems, night vision goggles, precision-guided artillery shells and new infantry assault rifles. From some of the information revealed, soldiers of the Indian Seventeenth Strike Army can be seen gathering together with new rifles, shouting the slogan of "victory", looking triumphant and ready to carry out the next round of provocations. It is still difficult to draw conclusions about how much of the high-tech equipment claimed by India has arrived, but it is certain that a batch of assault rifles imported by India has arrived.
The new assault rifle mentioned by the Indian general this time is actually the Siegshol 716 assault rifle imported by India from Switzerland. The rifle was purchased by India at the end of 2019, within the framework of the Ministry of Defence's Rapid Purchase Program, which purchased 72,400 rifles for $90 million. On average, a rifle costs more than $1,000, which is indeed a rare and cheap weapon for India. According to the procurement plan announced by the Indian side, the first batch of 10,000 rifles will be deployed in Kashmir and border areas on a priority basis, and should be delivered by the end of 2020. Although there have been delays, it should be fully delivered now, given time. As the main force on the Indian border, the 17th Strike Force will naturally give priority to changing this type of assault rifle. For the Indian Army, which has long used a variety of miscellaneous weapons, it is an encouraging thing to get this new rifle.
As a Swiss export known for the accuracy of military products, the performance of the Siegsauer 716 rifle is still relatively good. The rifle was essentially a Swiss improvement based on the AR-15 rifle, changing the air-blown type to a short piston to improve the reliability of the gun. One of the biggest improvements to the gun was the change in the type of ammunition used, changing the original 5.56 × 45 mm ammunition to 7.62 × 51 mm ammunition, thus improving the gun's advantage in range and power. Many people in the discussion of the Siegshol 716 rifle cartridge caliber, focusing on the 7.62 mm caliber, but this is not the key, the Russian Ak-103 series rifles also use a 7.62 mm caliber, but the ammunition is 7.62 × 39mm, which is an intermediate power bullet. The Siegshol 716 uses full-power bullets, which have a long range, high power, and small ballistic curve, and have advantages in range and accuracy in highland mountain combat and long-range shooting. Objectively speaking, the 5.8 mm caliber ammunition of the 95 assault rifle does have certain disadvantages when firing at a long distance with this rifle.
With the new weapons being reloaded, India's troops deployed on the border are inevitably temporarily arrogant, but they would be very wrong to think that they can fight the PLA with only tens of thousands of assault rifles imported. In modern warfare, the role of infantry light weapons is only the icing on the cake, since the second world war, the vast majority of casualties are caused by heavy weapons, infantry light weapons can only do individual self-defense and clean the battlefield. In essence, even if the Indian military fully updates the Army's light weapons and equipment, it will not have a fundamental impact on the military balance of power on the border. Moreover, the import of tens of thousands of assault rifles, although it helps to improve the long-range firepower of India's individual soldiers, it also brings more complex logistical problems. India has used more than 10 kinds of firearms, ranging from 5.45, 5.56 and 7.62 calibers, and munitions of each caliber are also divided into different types, which will bring great difficulties and challenges to India's logistics.
Moreover, the Indian side is adjusting, the PLA side is also making corresponding preparations, in fact, the PLA border troops have also begun to be equipped with new firearms. The new 191 series assault rifle has begun to be sent to the Border People's Liberation Army for use, the biggest feature of this new rifle is the use of advanced modular design, you can change the use of gun positioning by replacing the barrel, ammunition supply equipment and other ways. Can be used as a short-range assault rifle, can also be used as a long-range precision shooter weapon, and can even be modified into a light machine gun, this one-shot multi-purpose idea, is the real future gun development model. No matter how strong the long-range advantage of the Siegsauer 716 assault rifle, it is impossible to shoot at a long distance compared with the light machine gun, and once it enters the middle and close range, the 191 series rifle can be changed to a short assault rifle to suppress the opponent with fierce and rapid firepower. India is naïve to think that a change of gun will be able to suppress the People's Liberation Army.