Every working day, Neha Mishra shoulders an AK-203 Sher (lion) assault rifle, takes aim and pulls the trigger.
The 23-year-old is not a soldier undergoing weapons training. The shots she fires at the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) facility in Korwa are part of a critical quality-control process — determining whether a newly manufactured rifle is fit to eventually reach an Indian soldier.
Mishra, from Munshiganj in Amethi district, is the only woman among IRRPL's nine firers. Her job is to test-fire AK-203 rifles manufactured at a facility just a few kilometres from her home.
Now, she has also fired a rifle that marks a significant milestone in India's small-arms manufacturing programme: the first AK-203 produced entirely from components and input materials made in India.
Having fired earlier versions containing Russian-origin parts as well as the newly indigenised rifle, Mishra says the difference is barely perceptible from behind the weapon.
“It is the same. There is no major difference,” she said.
Asked whether she would choose the fully Indian rifle if she were a soldier, her answer was immediate.
“Without doubt. We can take this with our eyes closed.”
For Mishra, it is another day at work. For India, however, the rifle represents the culmination of a decade-long journey spanning the battlefields of Jammu and Kashmir, Russian design rooms, metallurgy laboratories across the country and a once-overgrown patch of land in Amethi that has become an important hub for small-arms manufacturing.
Major General Sudhir Kumar Sharma, chief executive officer and managing director of IRRPL, explains the importance of the project from a soldier's perspective.
“You may have jets, missiles and every modern weapon system imaginable. But for a soldier standing on the border or conducting a counter-insurgency operation, the most important weapon is still the rifle,” he said.
During the turbulent years of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s, Indian troops frequently encountered militants armed with Kalashnikov-pattern rifles. The weapons had earned a reputation for reliability, simplicity and effectiveness.
When the Indian Army began evaluating options for a future infantry rifle, weapons from several countries were considered. After extensive trials and assessments, the AK-203 emerged as the preferred choice.
The challenge then became bigger than simply acquiring the weapon: India wanted to manufacture it at home.
The AK-203 programme led to the creation of Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Indian and Russian partners.
After extensive assessments, Korwa in Amethi was selected as the production site.
The location offered several advantages. An existing ordnance factory complex was available, while Lucknow was developing as a defence manufacturing destination and Kanpur already had a strong ecosystem of engineering and small-arms industries. Delhi was also relatively accessible, while the site offered land and existing infrastructure.
What stands there today is a far cry from what Sharma first encountered.
“When we came here, large portions of the area were covered with elephant grass,” he recalls.
That site has since been transformed into a modern production ecosystem with assembly lines, testing facilities, firing ranges and a sophisticated small-arms laboratory.
Transferring the technology from Russia was a formidable undertaking.
Russian partners provided around 90,000 pages of technical documentation covering the rifle's design and manufacturing process. The transfer took place in stages, with the project facing two major disruptions along the way — the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The final technology package arrived only in 2024.
The Indian government's mandate required the programme to move through successive stages of localisation before reaching complete indigenisation.
The first rifle assembled at Korwa in August 2023 contained about 5% Indian content. By December 2024, that had risen to 15%.
By August 2026, the project had reached its full-indigenisation target, with all 50 components and 180 child parts sourced and manufactured within India.
An AK-203 comprises about 50 major components, which themselves contain nearly 180 child parts.
Those parts require everything from specialised steel alloys and precision-engineered springs to engineering plastics, composites, coatings and metals with tightly controlled chemical compositions. In some cases, the Russian specifications called for material formulations that were not readily available in India.
Recreating those materials became one of the biggest challenges in localising the rifle.
Indian teams had to develop and test alternative materials and manufacturing processes, with every substitute required to demonstrate performance equivalent to its Russian counterpart.
Two principal partners were tasked with developing the component ecosystem: Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Ltd (AWEIL), the corporatised successor to part of India's ordnance factory system, and Adani Defence Systems and Technologies.
IRRPL teams — including Indian Army officers and Russian specialists — visited around 76 sub-vendors across India to assess manufacturing processes, input materials and technology, while helping suppliers resolve production challenges.
Sharma estimates that around half of these vendors are based in Uttar Pradesh, particularly around Kanpur and Lucknow.
Testing capabilities also had to be progressively developed in India. In the early stages, components were sent to Russia and later to laboratories in Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bengaluru and Pune.
IRRPL subsequently established its own laboratory at Korwa, equipped to conduct around 76 types of tests, including X-ray and magnetic particle inspection.
Russian specialists, including a chief technologist and a quality-control expert, were stationed at Korwa to work alongside the Indian team.
The manufacturing process itself is highly structured.
“Components pass through hydraulic and electrical machinery in a production process involving 122 separate actions. At full production, individual workstations are designed to complete their task in about 90 seconds, allowing a finished rifle to emerge roughly every 100 seconds,” Sharma said.
He took charge as CEO in August 2023, becoming the company's second CEO after Maj Gen SK Senghar.
Walk through the Korwa factory today and another feature stands out: its workforce is strikingly young.
Many employees are in their mid-20s, with a large number drawn from Amethi, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli and neighbouring districts.
Many are ITI graduates, diploma holders or engineering students. Several had no previous experience in defence manufacturing.
Abhishek Pathak, 25, is an ITI diploma holder and former NCC cadet who had once hoped to join the armed forces. When he got an opportunity at IRRPL, he saw another route to contribute to the military.
Instead of carrying a rifle for the Army, he would help manufacture and test one.
Another firer, Sachin Dev, is from Kalikan Dham village in Amethi and also came to the facility with an NCC background.
Elsewhere on the shop floor, workers such as Himanshu Kushwaha in quality control, Sandeep Singh and Awadhesh Agrahari in fitting and assembly, and Dimple Gupta form part of the young workforce behind the programme.
Despite the growing Indian content, the Indo-Russian character of the venture remains visible in its governance and operations.
IRRPL's board has eight members, equally divided between Indian and Russian representatives, with four directors from each side.
Russian expertise also remains embedded in the day-to-day functioning of the Korwa facility.
Of the eight general managers reporting to the CMD, four are Russian officers permanently based in India. They serve as chief technologist, quality-control chief, head of business development and chief financial officer.
Every rifle undergoes firing tests before acceptance.
Sharma said around 70 rounds are fired from each weapon, including two high-pressure rounds that generate about 50% more pressure than standard ammunition. The Korwa complex has around two dozen firing ranges for the testing process.
The first fully Indian AK-203 was fired for about 3,000 rounds without stopping, Sharma said.
IRRPL is now preparing 10 rifles with 100% indigenous content for Army trials. At the same time, the company continues to supply rifles under its existing production programme.
It has already delivered around 70,000 rifles while progressively increasing the level of Indian content.
Production is also set to expand.
IRRPL currently employs around 247 people, a number expected to rise to about 460 when the facility reaches full scale.
From April 2027, Sharma said, the target is to produce one rifle every 100 seconds, provided vendors can supply components at the required pace.
Beyond the Indian Army's requirements lies another possibility: exports and potentially other weapons based on the Kalashnikov family.
Sharma said IRRPL has already received indications of demand for more than 1.5 lakh rifles.
But for now, the priority remains the Indian soldier — and every rifle still has to pass through the hands of people like Neha Mishra before it gets there.
