Ministry of Defence (MoD) and IWI, an Israeli firm, on March 19, signed a contract for the supply of about 16,000 Light Machine Guns (LMG) for the Army, reports Times Now. Under the deal, worth INR 850 crore, the LMG will be delivered in a year. This will replace the 5.56 INSAS light machine gun that is now two decades old. The Army has already received the American Sig Sauer assault rifles and the Caracal close quarter battle (CQB) carbines made in the UAE, but there were delays in getting the LMG. The MoD had cleared the purchase of all three weapons under the fast-track procedure in early 2019. The Army had to get all three weapons as soon as possible, given the operational situation.