Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: The Kerala Police will soon be equipped with AK-203 rifles, the same model currently used by the Indian Army.

The state government has sanctioned ₹1.3 crore for the purchase, making Kerala Police the first civilian force outside the Army to receive this weapon.

Manufactured by Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited, the AK-203 is more advanced than the AK-47 and INSAS rifles currently used by the police. The government has approved the purchase of 100 rifles initially, with another 150 to be procured later. Funding has been allotted under the Centre’s Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF) initiative.

The AK-203, part of the latest Kalashnikov series developed in 2010, will be deployed first with elite units, including the Thunderbolt commando force. The rifle supports magazines of 30 or 50 rounds and uses 7.62 mm ammunition. Weighing 3.8 kg, it can fire up to 700 rounds per minute.

Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt. Ltd. set up a manufacturing unit for the AK-203 in Uttar Pradesh following a 2019 India-Russia agreement. Around 60% of the rifle’s components are now indigenously produced, comprising 50 main parts and 180 subcomponents.