OFB Excalibur

History

The local Indian defense industry has a history of many mistakes. This is evidenced by the case of the INSAS family of automatic weapons, which entered service with the Indian Army in 1998 as a standardized assault rifle.

The main complaint of the series was its overall reliability in combat conditions and its ineffectiveness in longer-than-average tanks, which was exacerbated by the use of medium 5.56x45mm NATO rifle cartridges. Therefore, a new project was eventually developed to succeed INSAS, while continuing to procure other foreign designs.

The new homegrown company is called "Excalibur" and builds on the previous iNSAS.

Back in 2011, the Indian Army was looking for an INSAS replacement and called on local industry to meet the requirements. When the enterprise retired, it turned to the Excalibur, which was already being developed by the Armaments Research and Development Agency (ARDE), and began a year-long partnership to bring the rifle to the battlefield.

The Ordnance Factory Commission was selected for production.

As a state-of-the-art system, Excalibur has made several improvements to the INSAS series, including a collapsible stock, automatic fire mode and a Picatinny rail section to support a wide range of optics, sights and other tactical accessories. The cartridge of choice is the 5.56x45mm NATO, fired from a 20- or 30-round detachable magazine.

The total weight when loaded is 4 kg and the overall length is 35.2 inches.

The pneumatic bolt allows a rate of fire of 650 to 700 rounds per minute. The muzzle velocity is 2,955 feet per second. Effective intervention range up to 450 meters. Iron sights are standard ranged gear. Night vision devices are also supported.

Externally, the weapon resembles a modern Kalashnikov assault weapon - with a skeletonized folding shoulder rest and a rectangular receiver. The pistol grip is angled back and the magazine is located in front of the trigger assembly.

The hand guard protects the operator's support hand from the hot barrel, and the gas cylinder is located in a shroud above the barrel assembly. The barrel protrudes a short distance in front of the handguard and is equipped with a slotted flash suppressor.

Routine testing of the gun took place in 2014 and 2015, focusing on full flooding/mud, overall reliability and misfire rate. However, the weapon as a direct successor to INSAS did not live up to the Army's expectations and was rejected as the standard long gun of the Indian Army.

It will be adopted in limited quantities as an interim measure while the Army continues to search for an INSAS replacement.

The West Bengal Police is said to have 292 orders for Excalibur guns.

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes