DRDO develops 5.56x45 mm CQB carbine in partnership with private sector firm

These efforts align with India's broader objectives to advance quantum technologies for national development.

In a significant development, a Carbine developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has emerged as the lowest bidder in the Indian Army tender for buying over 4 lakh close-quarter battle carbines for operations.

DRDO Develops 5.56x45 mm CQB Carbine

"Significantly boosting #atmanirbharta in critical technology, 5.56x45 mm CQB Carbine, designed and developed by Armament Research and Development Establishment(ARDE), DRDO selected as L1 in Indian Army Request for Proposal (RFP)", DRDO shared on 'X'.

The Indian Army has been looking to acquire these carbines for a long time, but has not been able to make any progress due to the withdrawal of tenders.

If the Indian Army finally signs the tender for buying the carbines, this would be one of the biggest contracts ever for Indian-designed and developed small arms.

Meanwhile on June 17, India entered into a new quantum era by successfully demonstrating an experimental advancement through DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE), IIT Delhi, according to the official statement from the Ministry of Defence.

Free-space quantum secure communication using quantum entanglement over a distance of more than one km was achieved via a free-space optical link established on the IIT Delhi campus.

The experiment attained a secure key rate of nearly 240 bits per second with a quantum bit error rate of less than 7 per cent.

As per the release, this entanglement-assisted quantum secure communication paves the way for real-time applications in quantum cybersecurity, including long-distance Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), the development of quantum networks, and the future quantum internet.

These efforts align with India's broader objectives to advance quantum technologies for national development.

Under the project 'Design and development of photonic technologies for free space QKD', sanctioned by Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM), DRDO, the demonstration was given by Prof Bhaskar Kanseri's research group in the presence of several dignitaries, including the DRDO DG (MED, COS & CS), Director SAG, Director DFTM, Dean (R&D) IIT Delhi, Director (DIA-CoE) and DRDO laboratory scientists.