70 rounds of fire, 3,000-round endurance: How India turned a Russian AK-203 into its own ‘Sher’

India’s first fully indigenous AK-203 ‘Sher’ marks a decade-long journey from Russian technology transfer to complete local manufacturing.NEW DELHI: Every working day, 23-year-old Neha Mishra shoulders an AK-203 'Sher', takes aim and pulls the trigger. But the shots she fires at the Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt Ltd (IRRPL) facility in Korwa are not part of military training. They help determine whether a newly manufactured rifle is ready for a soldier.Mishra is the only woman among IRRPL's nine test firers. Her firing range is just a few kilometres from her home in Munshiganj, Amethi, and her job is to test the rifles manufactured at the facility.She is also among those to fire the first AK-203 made entirely from components and input materials manufactured in India, marking a major milestone in