Indian Army to induct Indigenous ASMI submachine gun

The Northern Command of the Indian Army has ordered 550 indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured ASMI submachine guns worth Rs 4.26 crores. This is the first such indigenously designed and manufactured weapon to be inducted into the Indian Army. 

The ASMI submachine gun has been manufactured by the Hyderabad-based Lokesh Machine Limited.

Features of the ASMI Submachine Gun 

The ASMI is short for Asmita, which means pride. It was designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Pune-based laboratory  Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) in collaboration with the Indian Army.

The design was handed over to Lokesh Machine Limited, a CNC(computerised Numerical Control) machine maker for manufacturing.

Lokesh Machine Limited manufactures the ASMI submachine gun at its Toorpan factory located in the Medak district of Telangana using aerospace-grade aluminium.

The use of aerospace-grade aluminium makes the submachine light and durable. ASMI is a single unibody 9x19 mm calibre submachine gun which weighs under 2.4 kg. 

The submachine has a magazine capacity of 32 rounds and can fire at the rate of 800 rounds per minute.

It is 10-15% lighter than international competitors like Uzi of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch's M.

The ASMI gun has been selected by the Army over the world-renowned Uzi, or M submachine gun.

Other potential buyers of the ASMI Submachine Gun

After successfully delivering the submachine gun to the Indian Army, the company has also submitted guns to the National Security Guards (NSG), Assam Rifles, and Border Security Force (BSF) for testing. If these forces accept the guns, it will be a big boost to the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign and to the indigenisation programme of the armed forces weapons system.