The Philippine military’s newly procured firearms for the soldiers
worth almost 2 billion is defective.
The initial distribution of these firearms was ceremoniously issued
personally by President Benigno Aquino last year.
The Firearms were purchased as part of the assault firearm acquisition
project of the armed forces of the Philippines.
The Assault Rifles numbering 50,629 units were purchased from
Remington Outdoor Company. Remington is one of the leading firearms
manufacturers in the United States.
According to the AFP, the Philippine President was delighted by the
acquisition because it was fully tested that the M4 assault rifle
is a good replacement for the old M16 assault rifle presently used by
Philippine soldiers.
But based on testings conducted by the Marksmanship Training Center,
Training and Doctrine Command of the Philippine Army based in Camp
O’Donnel, Capaz, Tarlac, the rear sights of all the 30 tested
carbines are defective. These 30 carbines belong to the 1st batch
of firearms delivered by the manufacturer.
The report further elaborated that the moving part of the sight is
too loose so that it has much movement in all directions and that the
vibration affects the accuracy and effectiveness of the firearm
especially at 100 meters to 200-meter distances.
The initial delivery of the M4 assault rifles numbering a total of
27,300 units were completed on August 1, 2014.
The 2nd batch consisting of 23,329 rifles were completely delivered
on December 12, 2014.
The total contract price for all these rifles amounted to
1,944,261,591.66 pesos or 38,402.13 pesos per rifle.
Additional rifles were ordered by the Department of National Defense
numbering 12,657 units. The contract price for these firearms is
486,055,759.40 pesos.
Thousands of these rifles are presently kept in warehouses inside
Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. These firearms are supposed to have
been distributed and used by Philippine soldiers in the field.
The defect in the firearms was confirmed by the Department of
National Defense.
Firearms defective is no big deal for the ordinary soldier but a big deal for
the sharpshooters and marksmen who shoot long distances. The sight
must not be moving and must fit perfectly.
Remington will send a repair team to the Philippines with the tools,
fixtures and components to establish the warranty repair procedures.
Remington is asking for 4 months to repair the defective rear sights
but the Department of National Defense gave them 3 months to make
the repairs.
Remington will pay penalties for each day that will pass without
repairing all the defective firearms.
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