22.07.2020 presentation of the new small arms of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Estonia, which were delivered by the American company LMT Defence (Lewis Machine & Tool Company) on the basis of the contract signed on 01.05.2019, was carried out. Estonia has ordered a total of 19,000 MARS-L (LMT MLCPS) and MARS-H (LMT CQBMWS) assault rifles, which have received the local designation R20 Rahe and will replace the existing Israeli IMI Galil SAR and AR and the Swedish Ak.4 (a version of the G3 assault rifle).
The presentation included weapons from the first delivery, which included a total of 1,570 weapons, including 1,250 LA-R20-12 and LA-R20-14 (LA - Laskuri Automaatrelv - automatic rifle) assault rifles of 5.56mm x 45 calibre in Scout and Standart versions (70 M203 grenade launchers were also delivered for this version). The remaining 250 units are the TA-R20-16 and TA-R20-20 (TA - Täpsuslaskuri Automaatrelv) assault rifles in 7.62 mm x 51 calibre.
The first unit to be re-equipped with the new small arms is the 1st Infantry Brigade's Scoutspataljon in Tapa. Subsequently, not only the other units of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades, but also units of the Estonian National Guard, the police, border protection units and the security forces under the Ministry of Justice will be re-equipped. The delivery of weapons is to be completed by the end of 2021.
The tender for the new small arms for the Estonian Armed Forces was conducted in 2017-2018 and was completed in December 2018. Initially, 14 manufacturers applied for the tender, but 8 of them were shortlisted (Lewis Machine & Tool Company, Patriot Ordnance Factory Inc., SIG Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Česká Zbrojovka, Israel Weapon Industries, Fabryka Broni "Łucznik″ - Radom sp. z o.o and the consortium of Beretta and Sako). In January 2018, four companies - Lewis Machine & Tool Company, Patriot Ordnance Factory Inc, SIG Sauer and Heckler & Koch - were selected for the final stage of the tender, but Patriot Ordnance was soon disqualified due to late submission of test samples.
In the practical tests, LMT MLCPS, SIG Sauer MSX and Heckler & Koch NK 416 models competed together as representatives of the 5.56 x 45 mm caliber, and LMT CQBMWS, SIG Sauer SIG716G2 DMR and Heckler & Koch NK 417 models competed together as representatives of the 7.62 x 51 mm caliber. The winner of the tests were LMT products.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/22-07-2020-Estonsko-prevzalo-nove-rucne-zbrane-t234392#647761
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