Saab to build Carl-Gustaf M4 in India

Saab officials at the ground-breaking of the facility at Jhajjar, Haryana on Monday | Image: Saab

Swedish defence company Saab announced the ground-breaking of its facility for the manufacture of its Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifle weapon system in India.

The site for the production is located at Jhajjar in the Indian state of Haryana, two-hours drive from New Delhi and production is expected to begin next year.

Senior Vice President of Saab AB, Görgen Johansson said in a statement, “I am proud to start constructing our first facility outside Sweden for Carl-Gustaf, a product that has a long history with the Indian Armed Forces. We look forward to starting production of our excellent product, now engineered and made in India.”

The size of the production site is 3.6 acres and is expected to employ a little over a hundred highly-skilled technical workers. Saab has set up a new company called Saab FVVO India Private Limited, which will have 100 percent ownership of the production facility. The approval for complete ownership of such a production facility by the Government of India is the first time such permission has been granted.

Impression of the future production facility | Image: Saab

The statement also quoted Sweden’s State Secretary for Foreign Trade, Håkan Jevrell, as saying, “Today is an important milestone for Sweden and India. Saab’s factory will be the first foreign-owned defence production facility in India. It is a testament to the strong bilateral relationship between our countries.” “We are very proud to say that we are the first defence company that are permitted to have 100 percent FDI,” added Johansson to news media in New Delhi.

The Indian Army has operated versions of the Carl-Gustaf since 1976 with licensed production by India’s ordnance factories. The Indian Army is currently the largest operator in the world of the Carl-Gustaf M3 and also operates the Carl-Gustaf M4 in small numbers. The existing ammunition configured for the Carl-Gustaf M3 will also be completely compatible with the Carl-Gustaf M4 and is produced by India’s government-owned Munitions India Limited.

Carl-Gustaf M4 with Firebolt | Image: Saab

The Carl-Gustaf M4 also brings with it the new Firebolt interface, which allows communication between the HE 448 high-explosive round, the launcher and the optical sight through a ballistic computer in the Fire Control Device (FCD 558) primary sight, which completely eliminates the cumbersome process, which burdened the operator with calculating the effect of variable factors like elevation, range, air speed and trajectory, and required manual configuration to get a firing solution.

“It also calculates the surrounding temperature and the height — what level of air pressure you have. So the number of hits will be much better,” said Johansson.

The Firebolt interface along with the new HE 448 round and the FCD 558, requires only minor adjustments by the operator. So while the new targeting system is far more complex, it places a far lower burden on operators, who can be trained to operate the Carl-Gustaf M4 in far less time. With the Firebolt system, there is also less wastage of ammunition because, while an average of three shells were required to get bearings, corrections and hit with the older system, the new communication process allows a hit with the first shot. This also reduces the risk of exposure of the gunner’s position to adversaries.

FCD 558 | Image: Saab

“It is a new optic sight compared to the telescopic sight. That is also a big improvement for the gunner. And then we have this computer-based gunner. Instead of five different knobs, we have one. So the gunner only needs to be put in the distance to target and fire. So it is a much more easier system,” explained Johansson, adding, “It is much easier for the operator to hit the target with the first round.”

The new HE 448 round is considerably more advanced than the older HE 441, with a smaller electro-mechanical fuze succeeding the older, mechanical fuze, and carries 4,000 tungsten pellets compared to the 800 steel balls in the HE 441 round. The new FCD and high-explosive round have also increased the range and accuracy of the system in addition to a reduction in weight.

The rifled barrel of the Carl-Gustaf M4 launcher | Image: StratPost

Although Saab has produced its AT-4 single-shot, use-and-discard, shoulder-fired bestseller in other countries, India is the first country outside Sweden where the company will be producing the Carl-Gustaf M4, according to Johansson.

With ‘40- to 50 operators’ of older Carl-Gustaf variants, Johansson projects new potential customer countries for the Carl-Gustaf M4 to number around 20. But all exports from the facility will be only to Sweden after approval from the Government of India, which will also be required for re-exports to third countries.

Saab’s manufacturing in India will also include the FCD 558, besides sub-components for the world market and will involve the deployment of ‘advanced carbon fibre winding’ in the production process. According to Johansson, the production facility in India is expected to be ‘even more modern’ compared to their existing production in Sweden. “Because we can start from the beginning compared to what we have (in Sweden),” he explained.