The AK-203 is a Russian

gas-operated Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

-fed,

select fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire we ...

assault rifle designed to chamber the

7.62×39mm The 7.62×39mm (aka 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the worldwide proliferation of Russian SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, as ...

cartridge. It is one of the latest iterations of the AK series of assault rifles originally designed by

Mikhail Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov ( rus, Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, p=kɐˈlaʂnʲɪkəf; 10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, military engineer, writer, a ...

. The AK-203 was developed in the 2010s by

Kalashnikov Concern JSC Kalashnikov Concern (), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The firearm was originally known as AK-103M before being renamed to AK-203 in 2019.

History

The prototype development of predecessor of AK-203 rifle, dubbed as AK-200 series began in 2007. The first prototype of AK-200 was developed and tested in 2010. In 2013, for the Ratnik programme AK-200 was modified and renamed as AK-103-3. In 2016, AK-200 series project was revived and upgraded the AK-103-3 assault rifle prototype with KM-AK kit developed as part of the Obves programme. The upgraded assault rifle prototype was initially designated as AK-300 and then as AK-100M and finally in 2019 as AK-203.

India

The

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

is procuring 670,000 AK-203 assault rifles to replace the INSAS, through a contract with Russia. The first 70,000 rifles were purchased from Russia and delivered in January 2022. The remaining 600,000 rifles will be manufactured in

Amethi Amethi is a city situated in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a major town of the Amethi district, in the Faizabad division. The Hanumangarhi temple is located in the heart of the town. Amethi was the 72 nd district of Uttar Pradesh w ...

, India under a transfer of technology agreement, by joint venture company Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL).

Users

*: Placed an order for 670,000 rifles, around 70,000 would be purchased off the shelf, and the remaining 600,000 would be manufactured in India under ToT. On 25 January 2022 first batch of 70,000 AK-203 delivered to

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

*: In limited use by

Russian Special Forces Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the S ...

References

{{Reflist 7.62×39mm assault rifles India–Russia relations Kalashnikov Concern products Kalashnikov derivatives Rifles of India