In an encouraging development for defense manufacturing in India, a made-in-India sniper rifle defeated rifles imported from the USA and other countries in the recently concluded All India Police Commando Competition. The National Security Guard (NSG) outperformed the commando wings of the states and the central armed police forces and won the sniper category competition using the .338 Saber sniper rifle manufactured by SSS Defence, a company based in Bengaluru, according to a report. The .338 Saber not only hit the target with flawless precision but also exceeded all other criteria in the sniping competition, competing against the best sniper rifles from across the globe that serve in the nation’s Commando forces, stated the report. Using the powerful American sniper rifle Barrett 50 Cal, regarded as the best in the world and utilized by the Indian Army and American Special Forces, which had deployed in small numbers to support capabilities at the Line of Control (LoC), Force One of the Maharashtra Police finished in second place. Last year, the Force One emerged victorious.

The Sabre .338 is the only sniper rifle in the most renowned sniper caliber – .338 Lapua Magnum – that is created and produced in the country. With an accuracy of less than 1 Minute of Angle MoA (a group size of 3 cm x 3 cm at 100 meters), it has an effective range of roughly 1,500 meters. The rifle has an Indian-made 27-inch match barrel, a monolithic chassis with a two-stage trigger and a suppressor that works with the Indian-made suppressor. Although the NSG has a Barrett MRAD sniper as well, they opt to use the SSS Defense model.

It’s interesting to note that a foreign nation has already purchased snipers from SSS Defence and placed a follow-on purchase. India is exporting sniper files to a foreign nation for the first time. The entire sniper rifle, including the barrel, is designed and manufactured in India. Notably, in addition to sniper rifles, the private company has secured contracts from several friendly nations for the supply of ammunition valued at around USD 50 million. India is now manufacturing and exporting a large number of equipment, from artillery guns to missile systems and small arms. India was still an importer of these systems, but now we have started exporting them. The report quoted a source last year.

The 15th All India Police Commando Competition is being held at the CRPF center in Gurugram from 8th to 22nd February. 21 teams representing various state police commando units and national units like NSG, ITBP, BSF etc are participating in the event. The competition is designed to rigorously assess commandos across multiple dimensions of operational readiness through a series of challenging stages.