Pakistan Seeks Polish Assault Rifles

A Pakistani delegation visited Poland last week to discuss procurement of some 500,000-800,000 assault rifles in a requirement that could be worth US$2 billion.

The potential of the acquisition and transfer of technology related to the production of small arms and ammunition was the main topic of talks between the board member of Maciej Lew-Mirski and the president of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF), PGZ SA said in a statement last Friday.

Pakistan's armed forces have been preparing for a succession of years under the license of G-3 German rifles and Chinese type 56 rifles, modelled on Soviet AK and AKM designs.

This is the first of three such visits to the Polish Armaments Group planned for this year.

The delegation from Pakistan also visited "Łucznik" Arms Factory in Radom, Tarnów Mechanical Plant, MESKO in Skarżysko-Kamienna, and visited the training facility to familiarize with the equipment manufactured by the companies from the PGZ Group and used by the Polish Armed Forces.

Pakistan has a huge demand for small arms, which is linked to the unstable situation in their region. South Asia's arms race and internal threats force the defense industry to expand its capabilities in the field of modern weapons and ammunition. 

“The PGZ sees great potential in cooperation with Islamabad, not only in the field of small arms but also in other areas of Pakistan's modernization program. Pakistan's defense budget for 2017-2018 is close to $ 9 billion, so it is definitely a fight,” said Maciej Lew-Mirski, a member of the board of PGZ SA.

It is estimated that Pakistan needs between 500 and 800,000 new automatic rifles, which should replace existing weapons. 

Pakistan Ordnance Factory had signed letters of understanding (LoU) Italian Fiocchi, Czech Republic’s Czechoslovak Group and Ceska Zbrojovka other than PGZ for the supply of various types of ammunition and transfer of technology during the 9th International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) in 2016.