A wave of indigenization is developing in India. Since the relaxation of government controls & regulations in the defense sector, many domestic start-ups are taking head-on collisions with giant manufacturers of firearms like Smith & Wessons, Remingtons, and Berettas. One of the start-ups which have determined to replace the imports of firearms for Armed Forces & Law enforcement Agencies making India Atma Nirbhar is SSS Defence (Stumpp Schuele & Somappa Group Company).
The SSS Defence
Founded five years ago in 2017, the SSS Defence is an Indian start-up focused on manufacturing small arms, ammunition, high-end optics & accessories related to firearms. Working on the philosophy of Innovation & Smartness, the company pledged to make “a new future of defense technology that incorporates deep design thinking, precision engineering, and operational excellence”.
The company is working on the legacy of former Indian industrialist, Padma Shri Machani Somappa, who in 1960 established Stumpp, Schuele, and Somappa, a joint venture with renowned German spring manufacturers, Stump & Schuele. And, the venture became the first spring manufacturing unit in the Indian subcontinent.
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State of the Art Weapon System
To fulfill the country’s demand for defense forces and internal law enforcement agencies, the company is focusing on the acclimated weapons system & also upgrading the weapons in use on the line of modern challenging conditions.
These are some of its flagship products :-
- The 338 Saber Sniper Rifle is a heavy barrel, manually operated, bolt action rifle intended for military sniping, targets ranging up to 1500 meters and beyond. The rifle is targeted as an alternative to the currently used Russian Dragunov SVD Sniper rifle.
With just little time to go for @DefExpoIndia, we’re happy to release the first views of the SSS Defence 338 SABER MK II. Our .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifle upgrade features a proprietary 3 lug bolt, an integrally machined mil-spec Picatinny rail & more. Bring on the beast ! pic.twitter.com/UBL0YwMNP4
— SSS Defence (@sssdefence) February 3, 2020
Some good photos of the @sssdefence sniper rifles. SSS Defence is also working on a universal chassis for carbines, assault rifles, DMRs. Most interestingly, in an recent interview CEO of SSS Defence @Viv_Krishnan talked about the development of a 0.338 Lapua Magnum machine gun. pic.twitter.com/k7uNF9NtfH
— Strategic Frontier (@strategicfront) October 1, 2020
- The P-72 assault rifle is indigenously developed to provide an alternative to the family of Kalashnikov rifles like AK-203 and INSAS guns used by Indian defense forces. The design & engineering of P-72 is much more advanced than currently used assault rifles.
🔴Family of P-72 assault rifles by India's @sssdefence :
👉P-72 Carbine with a 10-inch barrel (available in 7.62×39 and 5.56×45”)
👉P-72 DMR with 18 or 20-inch barrels.
👉P-72 Rapid Engagement Combat Rifle (RECR – “wrecker”) with a 16-inch barrel – available in 7.62×39 & 7.62×51. pic.twitter.com/UZoKYYusMW— IDU (@defencealerts) July 19, 2020
Other than its innovative products like P-72 assault rifles and the 338 Saber Sniper, the company is working on mass retrofitting of already in-use weapons of Indian defense forces. In furtherance of the up-gradation, an AK UPGRADE KIT has been launched to transform the AK-47 weapons of the forces. The SSS Defence SOPMOD (Special Operations Peculiar Modification), aims to upgrade the old engineered AK-47 with the latest technology and accessories.
We’ve waited long for this day. Our “Born in Bharat” AK upgrade kits head out of our plant to serve in the hands of the Indian Army’s special forces.#BorninBharat #MakeinIndia #instridewiththefuture #SSSUpgrade #SSSAKUpgrade #IndianSpecialForces pic.twitter.com/RnPijKoJHE
— SSS Defence (@sssdefence) April 20, 2022
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Domestic industries – Savior in Crisis
During the Afghanistan war, American M4 rifles were criticized for their unreliability in extreme climatic conditions. But, as the manufacturer of the gun was a domestic company, it became easy to further update the gun. In furtherance to that, under the M4 (PIP) Production Improvement Program, the whole inventory of rifles was upgraded to higher-tech, durability, and lethality.
Similarly, according to India’s domestic requirement, the indigenous technology will be inclined toward the country’s climatic conditions and can be further modified accordingly. It will not only promote the local industries to compete in the world but will also provide greater strategic autonomy to India. Providing the fat defense expenditure and the large size of forces, It will give a greater room for change and modification and SSS Defence is vouching for that.
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From up-gradation to the latest state-of-the-art weapons system, the SSS Defence is providing everything to the Indian defense forces for its requirements. It has full potential to replace the existing foreign companies in India. With the changing geopolitical situation and tensions along the Indian borders, India needs to find alternative foreign vendors and provide defense forces with the best weapon system in the world.
The modern & indigenous weapons technology provides a greater edge in a conflict and domestic manufacturing industries will be the icing on the cake. Because when war is at door, we have to counter them with the best weapons to win as there is no runner-up in a war.
