The TAR was made to reduce dependence on acquiring AR-M1s from Bulgaria under Atmanirbhar Bharat.[8][11] Around 500,000 M1s were reportedly imported by India from Bulgaria as of 2021.[8]
History
OFT announced the manufacture of an indigenous AK-based assault rifle in 2011.[12][13] The AR was named Trichy after OFT to recognise the factory's contribution in developing and manufacturing the rifle.[14] Development started in 2015[15] with a production line established in 2017.[16] That March, 200 TARs were acquired by the Chhattisgarh Police[3] as part of the 216th Ordnance Factories Day celebration.[17] Concerns were raised at the time, prior to manufacture, that OFT was experiencing manpower decline, leading to a decline of employees at the company.[18] The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), the Indian National Defence Workers' Federation (INDWF), and the Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS) stated their opposition to importing small arms with the unions hoping that more orders for the TAR would be approved, retaining employees at OFT.[18]
A CISF officer practices with the TAR at a shooting range.
In November 2017, the Central Reserve Police Force conducted field tests to determine the suitability of the TAR with 15,000 rounds fired[16] at the CRPF Academy in Kadarpur, Haryana with no reports of the rifle jamming.[19] Other tests conducted included the TAR being fired from mud, rain, and saltwater and from being dropped to test reliability and accuracy.[7] 100 TARs were ordered afterwards.[7] In February 2018, further tests were conducted by the CRPF at Jagdalpur, Raipur, Guwahati, and Srinagar with an order of 617 TARs placed afterwards.[16] In March 2020, the CRPF acquired the first 500 out of 6,167 TARs with fixed and folding butts models sold.[15]
In January 2019, the TAR was delivered to the Border Security Force, with its Additional Director General Nasir Kamal receiving the first rifle from the Ordinance Factory Board's Director General Saurabh Kumar.[4] It was reported in the same month that the Jharkhand Police would acquire TARs for anti-Naxalite operations.[20] In February 2020, the TAR was on public display at the Defence Expo at Lucknow.[21] It was reported at the time that the TAR was offered to the Indian Army.[21] OFT reported in March 2021 that around 11,500 TARs were supplied for a total of Rs 1.60billion during fiscal year 2020–21.[22]
In January 2021, the TriCa carbine was unveiled.[5] That August, OFT announced that the TAR could use the ARDE Under Barrel Grenade Launcher, which was presented by OFT general manager Sanjay Dwivedi.[11] A TAR variant with a downfolding stock was presented publicly.[6] This variant was sought out by the Railway Protection Force aside from the CAPFs.[23] In December 2021, the National Security Guard placed an order of 100 TriCa carbines.[24] On April 2022, the KP ordered 92 TriCa carbines.[25] According to OFT, the Greyhounds unit ordered 44 TARs.[25] In July 2022, the Government of Kerala received a request from Kerala Police (KP) to procure 250 TARs with side folding stocks;[26] they received the TriCa carbines in May 2025.[27] According to the AWEIL's 2022–2023 Annual Report, the National Security Guard and the Andhra Pradesh Police conducted tests on both the TAR and the TriCa carbine.[28]
In January 2023, the Central Industrial Security Force received TARs manufactured from Rifle Factory Ishapore.[29] That April, Minister of State for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt visited OFT, where he witnessed the TAR being manufactured in the factory while briefed on OFT's research and development work.[30] The following January, BSF procured further TARs featuring bayonets.[31] The Government of Kerala published an approved plan for the KP to acquire 30 TARs.[32] In November 2023, the Trichy was on display at the Dasara Exhibition in Mysore, Karnataka as part of an effort to raise awareness on crime and public safety.[33] According to Rajesh Choudhary, Chairman and managing director of AWEIL in a July 2024 interview, he said that the TAR continues to be in demand with CAPFs and reported that an export order was made for the rifle.[10] In May 2025, it was reported that the Assam Forest Department and the Central Bureau of Narcotics made orders for the TriCa carbine.[27]
Development
Initial versions of the TAR were produced by using FN FAL-based receivers and were using 7.62x39mm magazines.[13] In 2012, there were reports that the prototypes jammed during testing due to the rate of fire being 800 rounds per minutes instead of 600 rounds per minute to match with the AK-47.[34] It was initially expected that the rate of fire would be at 650 rounds per minute.[34] The current version is based on the AR-M1[35] with a machined receiver instead of stamped sheet to ensure the rifle has high accuracy and reliability.[7] The TAR can be outfitted with picatinny rails on the upper handguard to attach scopes if requested.[7]
The TAR can fire with single, burst and full automatic mode.[17][36] OFT reported that the TAR can be adopted with single shot mode only for police forces in cities and urban areas.[1] While it has an effective range of 300 to 350 meters,[17][2] the range can be up to 500 meters if the rifle is used in full auto.[17] The rifle can be equipped with the ARDE UBGL,[37] the GP-25, the GP-30, and the Arsenal M6 UBGL.[15] The TAR can use bayonets.[31] OFT claimed that the TAR is functionally on par with the AK-47.[21]
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