PHOTOS: Tavors With Indian Para Commandos


The IMI Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle is a fairly common sight now, deployed in significant numbers with the special forces, paramilitary, Rashtriya Rifles and other units. Saw these Indian Army para commandos at Exercise Sudarshan Shakti yesterday and thought I’d snap off a few. The men say they love the rifle. One of them said there had been some issues a couple years ago which had not been sorted out. They love the sight and the weight/stability of the weapon. When I asked how it compared to what they were using before, they smiled. (I had a chance to play with a Tavor in 2008. Yep, sweet.)

Photos / Shiv Aroor

26 thoughts on “PHOTOS: Tavors With Indian Para Commandos”

  1. All the pics are great but particularly loved the unique angle of the first pic.
    When PARA SF take part in this ex with their gear put on, please make sure to take snaps even then.

  2. Question: What's the point of wearing camouflage if everyone's names are on bright yellow name tags? Do these come off the uniform during operational deployments?

  3. gr8 closeup pics…h'v my uncle in the airborne SF….don't know he took part in the Ex or not…..

    can u pls post some pics of THE PARAS IN ACTION….

  4. GR8 closeup pics….h'v my uncle in the paratroopers SF….bt don't know he took part in the Ex or not…..

    can u plz post some pics of the paras IN ACTION…

  5. Way to go India!!!

    Time to tell Pakistan to stop the proxy war for the sake of Pakistani Tax payers..!

    Regards,
    PAKISTANI TAX PAYER

  6. One of them said there had been some issues a couple years ago which had not been sorted out.

    Typical Indian Army, they blame entire design of INSAS for problems arising because of teething problems and poor maintenance but stays mum and go on to multiply purchase and distribution of Tavor even when it has unsolved problem despite having 'PROVEN' tag.

    Moreover, if Soldiers are liking the balance because of Bullpup design then who should be blamed for rejecting Bulpup INSAS IAR?

  7. This is good thing. DRDO must get the technology to build one at home. I am delighted to see the F-INSAS program result. I hope soon they change the dress code too to accommodate more items that envisioned.

  8. There is absolutely no reason why India cannot produce a range of high -quality small arms.
    It can be said that the DRDO/OFB have at times less than enthusiastic support from the forces.
    But,the fact remains that the the OFB itself appears to do little to improve what it already is producing.Whether this is due to bureaucratic control or indecision or merely complacency due to monopoly status,is not clear.

    The INSAS while a good weapon,still has varying quality and the fit and finish continue to be archaic.The same weapon can be improved by new polymers, material finishing,better machining, modern accessories and above all tight quality control.One of the main reasons that imported weapons seem to be better than our is due to attention paid to detail,quality and finish.The Even a worn HK or M4 still retains a better finish than a relatively fresh INSAS.

    This is sad,since the INSAS is not a bad weapon at all.

  9. Anon 9:34
    What gear are you talking about. They are just wearing their uniform apart from their weapon. Or do you think Soldiers wear BPJ, pads and NVGs and other equipment 24*7?

    Anon 10:00
    Camo is not worn only in Operations. This is called jungle dress and is part of the uniform. Soldiers wear it even while sitting in their Office in field areas. Even in peace postings, there are particular days in a week when this uniform is to be worn.
    So of course the name tags come off during ops.

  10. They wear/carry what they need for the mission at hand. This is an exercise and these pictures are probably not taken in the middle of action but rather at a "rest" period.

    There are enough pictures / videos of the Desert Scorpions to get an idea of what our operators wear / carry while on mission.

  11. Why are faces of the men blurred out / blocked. Same goes with MARCOS but not with NSG personnel. Any particular reason for this?

  12. Is it the light or has the maroon been replaced by a shade of purple?

    With respect to all who have earned the privilege of donning the maroon beret.

  13. Thank god at least the paratroopers are getting modern weapons.

    Now replace INSAS with Tavor please. The OFB will continue to receive salaries regardless of whether or not they get orders, don't bother about feeding their monopoly.

  14. veri good move taken by indian defence ministry I like this rifle and we can save soulder life. Thanks & congratulate to Respected Defence Minister Mr. A.K.Antoney.

  15. Indian Army as a virgin has waited under OFB named banana tree for the banana called INSAS to fall. After 15 yeras wait, what fell down was a rotten lunging heavy and faulty banana.

    To hell with these so called defense producers..

  16. INDIA is a new rich boy in the world which likes to show-off its military stuff.

    But have anyone seen them use it when really matters, oops i forgot one thing india lacks BALLS.

  17. Wawa veeva…I like these guns…Now we can hunt Paki terrorists and their Indian supporters in Parliament and elsewhere with these guns.

  18. I feel ashamed that our soldiers need to use foreign guns. I thought indigenous program of DRDO meant we get the guns and artillery stuff right before we jump into nuclear sub marines!! What excuse is there for not providing up to date guns?

  19. there is nothing wrong with any of the 5.56 mm rifles around the world it is the Bullet=round=ammunition which is called LOW IMPULSE it lacks TERMINAL LETHALITY AND IS NOT BARRIER BLIND what we need to do is design a new round=ammunition which better range around 600 to 800 meters barrier blind and with lethality near that of 7.62mmx39 or more

  20. Tavor is one amongst a variety of such rifles. The point is that we select one and produce it in large numbers for our army and paramilitary forces along with the requisite ammo. We have used the SLR & Insas in good quantities but age does catch up with weapons very quickly and modern production practices are resulting in a very high quality and user friendliness of these weapons – in short we have to innovate day in and day out without getting into the public sector versus private sector debate . In fact all states have to contribute their share so that we do not face shortages in time of war.

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