Army gets first India-made submachine guns: How ASMI outperforms Israeli Uzi, German MP5

(Photo credit: Indian Defence Research Wing)

The Indian Army has got the delivery of country's first domestically developed sub-machine guns - ASMI - designed, developed and manufactured in less than three years.

ASMI, short for Asmita, which means pride in Sanskrit, has outperformed many renowned international rivals, including 'Uzi' from Israel Weapon Industries and 'MP5' from German Heckler & Koch, in terms of accuracy and reliability.

ASMI weighs under 2.4 kg and is 10-15% lighter than its global competitors. With a price tag of under Rs 1 lakh, the guns are nearly 30% cheaper than the imported ones.

In contrast to Uzi that was designed in 1940s, ASMI sports a modern design with the use of aluminium and carbon fibre, making a perfect balance between weight and performance.

This is a major achievement for Hyderabad-based Lokesh Machines Limited that delivered the order of 550 9x19 mm submachine guns (SMGs) Asmi to the Northern Command of the Indian Army. The company had secured the order worth Rs 4.26 crore from the Northern Command in mid June.

ASMI was developed by the company based on the basic design provided by Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune and the Indian Army.

The National Security Guard (NSG), Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) have also received pilot lots of ASMI and have expressed interest in further deployment.