New Delhi:
Security personnel to be deployed at the upcoming terminal of the IGI Airport in New Delhi will be armed with ultra modern firearms like MP5 rifles and Glock pistols to thwart any attack on the facility with "promptness and accuracy".
The CISF is providing these high-end weapons to the personnel of its Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and others who would be stationed at the new integrated domestic and international terminal 'T3' as they are "best suited" for urban combat.
These weapons, the CISF top brass believe, will help the security men to "retaliate promptly and with accuracy" any attack on the airport which is constantly on terror radar.
"We are providing sophisticated and ultra-modern fire arms like MP5 rifles and Glock pistols to our men who would be deployed at T3 as its commissioning would increase our responsibility more," a top CISF official said.
"The MP5 rifles are best suited for urban combat as they are more accurate and reduce the colateral damage with controlled fire options," he said.
The T3 would be one of the world's biggest terminal building and would handle about 3.4 crore domestic and international passengers, both arriving and departing, an year from the present 2.4 crore.
"We are training our personnel on both the weapons. Training on MP5 rifles has completed and we have started giving them the weapons. The personnel are also being trained on Glock pistols at our training centre at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad," the official said.
Glock pistols, he said, was their preference because of its accuracy and it being light weighted and easy to handle.
The MP5 rifle (Maschinenpistole 5 in German - "machine pistol model 5") is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) of Oberndorf am Neckar in erstwhile West Germany.
It is currently one of the most widely used submachine guns in the world. It has been been adopted by numerous law enforcement agencies and special forces groups, including navy commandos MARCOS, Indian Army, National Security Guards, and newly formed anti-terror unit of Maharashtra Police "Force One".
The Glock pistols are a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock GmbH, located in Deutsch-Wagram in Austria. The polymer frame of the pistol reduces its weight and make it handy for the user. It is presently being used by the NSG.