Saab begins construction of Carl-Gustaf manufacturing facility in India

The Carl-Gustaf M4 – pictured above – can be fired from the shoulder from the prone position with the soldier's body at an angle of at least 45° to the axis of the bore, or from a mount on an armoured personnel carrier. A heavy‐duty, detachable bipod is used when firing from the prone position. (ECDI)

Swedish defence company Saab has started the construction of a new Carl-Gustaf manufacturing facility in India, Saab said on 4 March.

Saab is building the new facility in Jhajjar, in India's northern state of Haryana, approximately 80 km from New Delhi, the company said.

The new facility – operated by Saab subsidiary company Saab FFVO India – will deploy technologies such as the sighting technology and carbon fibre winding to manufacture Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifles for the Indian Armed Forces as well as components for users of the system around the world, Saab added.

Görgen Johansson, senior vice-president and head of Saab's business area dynamics, told Janes on 5 March that the primary focus of the facility will be to produce Carl-Gustaf M4 rifles and to “see how the factory develops to know what more we might produce in future in the factory”.

The main reason for setting up a new facility is to provide better customer support to India, Johansson said. Exports will also be pursued.

“We need to increase total [production] capacity [of Carl-Gustaf M4 rifles] and India is one of the major choices for us because India has been a customer of these rifles for almost 50 years. It is the customer that has the largest fleet of weapons. Therefore, it's natural for us to set up this facility in India,” Johansson added.