A US Army Contracting Command notice has been posted on the US government’s main contracting website to ask for information from contractors capable of producing and delivering non-NATO special ammunition, the Defence Blog reports.
The notice indicates that the US Army “looks to buy small-calibre special ammunition” for use with Russian-made pistols, assault rifles and machine guns.
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The list specifically includes cartridges for Tokarev and Makarov pistols, Kalashnikov assault rifles of both calibres (5.45 mm and 7.62 mm) as well as DShK and YakB machine guns and SVD Dragunov rifles.
The Defence Blog claims that the US Army Contracting Command is monitoring the market to find “technically and financially capable sources for supplying and delivering multiple variants of Special Ammunition & Weapon Systems (SAWS) and non-NATO commercial ammunition from around the world for delivery to OCONUS [Outside (the) contiguous United States] locations”.
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This comes after Defence One reported earlier this month that the State Department plans to expand its so-called European Recapitalisation Incentive Programme; it stipulates Washington offering Eastern European countries cash to purchase American weaponry in exchange for their giving up Russian- and Chinese-made arms.
The State Department reportedly vowed to allocate about $190 million for the implementation of the project in six countries — Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia and Slovakia.