The Indian Ministry of Defence on Thursday, March 19, announced that IWI would supply 16,479 Negev NG7 light machine guns to the force at a cost of about USD 117 million.

IWI Negev NG7 light machine gun (Picture source: IWI)

The Indian Times reported that military purchasing agents have for the past several years been exploring options for the new machine gun to replace aging 7.62x54R-chambered PKMs. Contenders for the contract included Arsenal of Bulgaria and S&T Motiv in South Korea. Let’s remind that India produces the Belgian-designed FN MAG 58 under contract locally as the MG 2A1 general-purpose machine gun.

The Negev is a 5.56×45mm NATO light machine gun developed by the Israeli firearm manufacturer Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), formerly Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI). In 2012, IWI introduced the Negev NG-7 7.62×51mm NATO general-purpose machine gun, which is used by the Israel Defense Forces (mainly in the infantry, combat engineer and special forces units). The NG stands for Next Generation.

The Negev NG-7 is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. It has a barrel length of 508 mm (20 inches) and two operation modes: semi-automatic for accurate and fast controlled fire, and fully automatic for maximum firepower. It is fed by a 100- or 125-round drum magazine containing disintegrating M13 NATO standard ammunition belts or NATO standard ammunition belts and has two gas regulator settings as the possibility for box magazine feeding was omitted. The IWI eLog weapon-embedded sensor module was added to collect and store data on the actual use of the weapons for more efficient maintenance management and servicing by armorers. Whether the eLog will be also integrated on the Indian Negev NG7s is not specified.