Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Markets and Companies, Security
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Saturday, 27.04.2024, 06:27
Estonia chooses offer by Lewis Machine & Tool Company as winner of gun tender
At the proposal of the tender committee, Col. Rauno Sirk, director of the Center
for Defense Investment, has declared the offer by the US arms manufacturer
Lewis Machine & Tool Company the most successful tender in the procurement,
spokespeople for the Center for Defense Investment said on Tuesday.
In the appraisal of the offers, the outcome of a shooting
test conducted in March made up 10% of the overall score, the guaranteed number
of shots throughout the weapon's life cycle 20%, length of the useful life of
the weapon 30%, and the price 40%.
"The committee appraised in the first place the
reliability and dependability of the weapons as well as the economic
feasibility, that is, the total cost of the project," Sirk said. "It
is our aim to buy an automatic firearm which is precise, handy and dependable
in different weather and environment conditions. The cost of the transaction is
not of lesser importance either. In this we evaluated the life cycle cost, not
just the purchase price of the weapons and additional equipment, and we took
into consideration the costs that have to be incurred over the next 20 years,"
Sirk said.
Under the planned contract, Estonia will buy some 16,000
firearms with additional equipment for 22 mln euros over the years 2019–2021.
In addition the contract must enable additional purchases of weapons until
2026.
The tender of the Center for Defense Investment to buy new
5.56-millimeter and 7.62-millimeter automatic firearms for the 1st and 2nd
Infantry Brigades and eventually for the entire operations structure of the
defense forces was announced in June 2017.
Nine of the 14 applications by manufacturers of firearms to
pre-qualify for the procurement were granted and five rejected. By the January
deadline four manufacturer made their offers: Heckler & Koch, Sig Sauer,
Lewis Machine & Tool Company and Patriot Ordnance Factory.
Lewis Machine & Tool Company is a company established in
1980 which manufactures and supplies firearms primarily to the US military and
other armed structures. Weapons manufactures by the company are used by the SAS
special forces unit of the British army and the army of New Zealand.
The announcement of the most successful tenderer will be
followed by a 14-day period during which participants in the tender can contest
the tender outcome. The framework and procurement contracts are expected to be
signed in the coming few months.