Delhi airport security staff to sharpen shooting skills at CISF’s new indoor range

The shooting range has been developed at Mahipalpur in a 40-feet container for live indoor firing practice with small arms like Pistol, AK-47, INSAS, MP-5 and Carbine Machine Gun.

The elite commandos at Delhi airport will now be able to test their firing skills at a portable shooting range at Mahipalpur.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has procured a containerized tubular shooting range for Rs 80 lakh which will be stationed at its Mahipalpur complex (Photo: Sourced)

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has procured a containerized tubular shooting range for Rs 80 lakh which will be stationed at its Mahipalpur complex next week solving the problem of lack of a firing range nearby. The shooting range will be the first of its kind in Delhi.

Till now, the CISF personnel had to go all the way to the National Security Guard (NSG) shooting range at Manesar. While it is mandatory for those deployed with the airport’s Quick Reaction Team (QRT) to participate in shooting practice every fortnight, the other security staff have to undergo the test once a year.

The shooting range has been developed in a 40-feet container for live indoor firing practice with small arms like Pistol, AK-47, INSAS, MP-5 and Carbine Machine Gun. The firing range will also be used for training commandos posted in Delhi metro and VIP security.

“The tubular firing range is equipped with a smart target system which digitally display and maintain the record of accuracy. It works on the principal of tubular booth, fire retarding material, acoustic and ricochet preventing material, compressed rubber and armoured steel butt with smart target system. The tubular range provides a flexible firing setting ranging from 10 metre to over 300 metre,” a CISF official said.

“While all CISF personnel need to be fit and quick, our special focus is on the airports. The frequency to test their firing skills has been revised and we will check how accurate and quick they are,” CISF director general OP Singh said.

CISF guards 59 airports in the country, and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been asking the force to start tactical deployment of personnel to improve response time in case of a terror attack.

The Delhi airport, which comes under the category of hyper-sensitive airports, is also witnessing changes and personnel have been asked not to be static while on duty.