India orders 16,479 IWI Negev 7.62x51mm light machine guns

The IWI Negev NG7 7.62x51mm general purpose machine gun. Photo c/o Defpost.

India has signed an agreement worth INR8.8 billion (US$118 million) for the purchase of 16,479 Negev 7.62x51mm light machine guns from Israeli arms manufacturer Israel Weapon Industries (IWI).

These LMGs will be supplied to the Indian Army, which has a requirement of around 43,000 LMGs to fill gaps and replace older model.

According to the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD), the new LMGs are expected to enhance the lethality and range of frontline troops, improving their overall combat capability.

The decision to acquire more than 16,000 LMGs was decided in 2018, as the Indian government tries to reduce the requirement gap after several failures to acquire the needed small arms for the Indian Army’s 382 infantry battalions. 

The Indian Army is no stranger to the Negev LMG, as its Para Special Forces units are already using the Negev NG7 since 2012 as its standard Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

The IWI Negev NG7 is the 7.62x51mm variant of the Negev family of light machine guns, which is also available in 5.56x45mm variant. It is able to use belt-fed, drum, or standard 7.62mm NATO magazines, and weighs around 17.4 pounds. 

It is the main light machine gun of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and is also used by several armed units around the world. Aside from India, other Asian countries using the Negev LMG are the Royal Thai Army, the Vietnamese Naval Special Forces, and the Philippine National Police.


[1] Times of India
[2]  Defpost
[3] The Defenstar