The Indian defense ministry has awarded Israel Weapons Industries a contract for the delivery of 16,479 Negev 7.62X51 mm light machine guns for the Indian Armed Forces.
According to the defense ministry, the contract is worth Rs 880 crore (approximately $117 million).
The Negev 7.62X51 mm LMG has a weight of 7,6 kilograms and a rate of fire between 850 and 1,050 rounds per minute. It has a semi-automatic operation mode for accurate fast-controlled fire in CQB and automatic for maximum firepower.
The contract award comes after India’s defense acquisition council cleared the procurement of light machine guns for all three branches of the Indian Armed Forces in February 2018. Israel’s IWI was one of three bidders in the LMG procurement program.
