New Delhi (TIP): India developed its first indigenous 9 mm machine pistol, the Defence Ministry on Thursday informed that the machine gun was co-developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army.

The Army’s infantry school in Mhow and the DRDO’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune have designed and developed the weapon, a press statement released by the DRDO said.

“The machine pistol fires the in-service 9mm ammunition and sports an upper receiver made from aircraft grade aluminium and lower receiver from carbon fibre. A 3 dimensional printing process has been used in designing and prototyping of various parts,” it said in a statement.

“The machine pistol is likely to have production cost under Rs 50,000 each and has potential for exports,” it said.