The below is a list of current infantry equipment of the Indian Army and its future equipment procurements.
Individual equipment
Infantry weapons
Knives and bayonets
Small arms
Explosives
MANPADS
Anti-tank missiles
Future procurement and projects
The major ongoing weapons programmes of the Indian Army are as follows:
Individual equipment
- Ballistic helmet - The MoD in 2019 has approved procurement of 1,70,000 ballistic helmets.
- Bullet-resistant vest - The MoD in 2018 ordered approximately 186,138 bulletproof vests on 9 April 2018. These will be manufactured in India by SMPP Pvt Ltd. This is in addition to the 50,000 vests ordered in 2016 under emergency procurement.
Infantry weapons
- Sniper Rifles - The MoD released the Request for Proposal in October 2022 to 30 vendors for 4,849 (including 4,549 for the Army, 212 for the Air Force and 88 for the Navy) new sniper rifles in the .338 Lapua Magnum rifle cartridge and for 7,841,575 rounds. These rifles will replace the older Dragunov SVD.
- Anti-materiel rifles - 1000 new anti-material rifles are to be acquired for which the MoD has issued global RFIs.
Anti-tank weapons
- MPATGM - Ground and air launched variants. On 10 October 2024, the Indian Army released an Request for Information (RFI) for the acquisition of 20,000 ATGM missiles along with 1,500 next generation ATGM launchers from Indian firms. The information received will be utilised to formulate Army's General Service Quality Requirements (GSQRs) for the ATGM procurement programme. The ATGMs will be procured under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category, and must be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured with over 60% indigenous content. It should have all-weather and all-terrain firing capability (plains, deserts, high-altitude up to , coastal as well as island areas). The ATGM probable should be able to destroy enemy tanks, armoured personnel carriers, combat vehicles, low-flying helicopters, concrete structures and other vehicle-based weapon platforms.
- Top-attack anti-tank mine â A Request for Information (RFI) for 4,000 such mines were released on 5 June 2025. Top-attack mines are designed to engage armoured vehicles from above, where protection is typically weaker. They employ a combination of seismic, acoustic, and infrared sensors to detect and classify targets. Upon detection, the mine launches a submunitionâÂÂsuch as an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) or shaped chargeâÂÂin a near-vertical trajectory to penetrate the vehicleâÂÂs top armour. Some variants use explosively generated shock waves to achieve a similar effect. These mines are effective against heavily armoured platforms that are resistant to conventional underbelly mines and can be deployed in various terrains, including urban environments. The mine should also feature remote activation, deactivation, or self-destruction capabilities to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.
Man-portable air defence missiles (MANPADs)
- DRDO VSHORADS â The Ministry of Defence released a Request for Proposal (RfP) for the procurement of 48 launchers, 48 night vision sights, 85 missiles, and one missile test station of the infrared (IR) homing-based VSHORADS, designated VSHORADS (New Generation) or VSHORAD (NG). The missile should have flexible deployment including "Manportable configuration or Para dropped operations method, on land and ship based platforms". The system could be used by all three services for day-night terminal and point air defence.
- Laser beam riding VSHORAD â DRDO VSHORAD is being built concurrently with another Indian VSHORAD project as a joint venture between a public sector entity based in Hyderabad (possibly Bharat Dynamics Limited) and a private sector entity based in Pune. To counter drones, helicopters, and fighter jets flying at low altitude, the latter missile will be laser beam riding VSHORAD system. An order of 200 launchers and 1200 missiles is expected for this project, which is valued at . While Indian Army will procure 700 missiles, the Indian Air Force will procure the rest of it.
See also
References
Sources