NEW DELHI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Manufacturer of India's home-made guns, the government-run ordnance factory board (OFB), has slammed the army for rejecting its assault rifle on grounds that it failed basic tests, a local television news channel NDTV said Tuesday.
According to NDTV, U Mukherjee, spokesperson of the gun manufacturer, said in a letter to the channel that the home-made assault rifle rejected by the army last month functioned flawlessly without any stoppages.
"A top army General fired the rifle during trials and it delivered like a dream," Mukherjee was quoted as having said.
Last month, the channel was the first to report that the Indian army had, after trials of the new 7.62mm x 51mm assault rifle, concluded that it failed basic tests including being too noisy and indiscreet for combat.
The channel said a report from the army to the Defense Ministry said that the indigenous rifle "requires comprehensive design analysis and improvement."
Indian soldiers have been using made-in-India AK-47s and INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles since 1988.
However, from this year the weapon is likely to be replaced with deadlier assault rifles of higher calibre.
