2019-09-30 12:36 update: 2019-10-01, 20:47
Mariusz Błaszczak. Photo PAP/Piotr Polak
Polish Defence Ministry and Lucznik-Radom Arms Factory in central Poland on Monday signed two annexes increasing orders for subsequent supplies of small arms for the Polish Armed Forces.
Under the annex to the contract from September 2017 for the delivery of MSBS-5.56 GROT rifles 18,000 weapons will be delivered to Poland's Territorial Defence Force in 2020-2022.
"This means that by 2022, every third Polish soldier will be equipped with the Polish made state-of-the-art GROT rifle, said Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the signing ceremony.
According to the new terms of the December 2018 deal for the production of Vis 100 semi-automatic pistols, the Lucznik factory will increase the production of this type of small arm from 1,300 to more than 3,000 by the end of 2019. In total, the Polish manufacturer is expected to provide the Polish Armed Forces with almost 20,000 Vis 100 pistols by 2020.
In Blaszczak's opinion both MSBS Grot rifles and Vis 100 pistols are very good weapons of Polish design and production.
He also said that the ministry orders for weapons made by the Polish defence industry are higher than a few years ago, "valued at PLN 3.5 billion (EUR 800 mln) - PLN 3.7 billion (EUR 845 mln) on average in recent years," and this year they are expected to reach PLN 6.85 (EUR 1.56 bln).
The Deputy Defence Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz pointed to the fact that the ministry favours domestic arms manufacturers and that the MSBS GROT rifle, due to its contemporary design, is fit to be used by allied armies, especially on NATO's eastern flank.
Territorial Defence Force commander General Wieslaw Kukula said that the equipment used by the Polish army is increasingly modern and negotiations are currently underway to purchase another weapon from the Radom factory, the 7.62 sniper rifle. "This is a rifle that will largely provide us with a tactical advantage due to its accuracy, parameters," he said. (PAP)
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