As of 2015, the rifle is also known as the Advanced Automatic Rifle (AAR) and also as the F-INSAS rifle.
History
The Indian Army chose an indigenous assault rifle to replace the INSAS rifle currently in service. The decision, which could save money in foreign exchange and boost local manufacture, was made by the former Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag. Several rifles are currently undergoing small arms trials with three prototype rifles made for testing as a future replacement to the INSAS rifle.[4][5][6]
The design would allow soldiers to configure it according to the needs of the missions by changing rifle barrels.[5] The MCIWS uses a gas-operated short stroke piston design, and uses 30-round plastic-type magazines.[10][6] The rifle also has ambidextrous features, such as the charging lever and magazine release.[6] The MCIWS includes an indigenous under barrel grenade launcher to fire airburst-type grenades which can take out targets up to 500 meters.[3] Various sights can be mounted on the Picatinny rail on the upper receiver.[6]
The rifle is of aluminium alloy and features a modular, rivet-less design.[7]
^"Archived copy"(PDF). www.drdo.gov.in. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
