Canadian Defence Matters has argued in the past that a suitable number of firearms should
be purchased as an “interim” measure to deal with a newly discovered capability
gap. (One no doubt caused by a previous Conservative government’s mismanagement
of the Small Arms Modernization Project).
It would appear that this is what is to happen. It has
been reported that an Army Interim Pistol (AIP) project which is
expected to sustain Army capability for up to 10 years, until the GSP project
can plug the entire capability gap resulting from the Brownings’ withdrawal has been initiated.
With an approved budget of just under $5 million, taxes
included, the AIP project is for the purchase of 4,738 weapons, including 508
for depot retention, all deemed “critical to meet the operational capability
requirement of Regular Force units.” But if support for the Reserves, which is
one of the stated goals of Canada’s defence plan “Strong Secure Engaged”, is included then this would boost
the overall buy to 7,627 once 2,580 are added for the Reserves and 309 for
depot inventory. This number would represent about half of the pistols
currently allocated to the entire CAF.
It is also reported,
although no mention of the Army Interim Pistol project can be found on any
government website, that it will take two years to complete this purchase. It should
also be noted that if the CAF were to purchase 7,627 firearms from a budget of just
$5 million then the average cost for each weapon would be about $655.00. This
seems unlikely.
Perhaps what is necessary if an interim-interim pistol project? Rather than take two years to purchase an indeterminate
number of weapons why not take the five million dollars in hand and use it immediately
to purchase 5,000 Sig Sauer P320’s
(the civilian version of the U.S. Army’s standard sidearm) at commercial rates.
These weapons could be used as ‘gap fillers’ until the Army
Interim Project can find a weapon to be used until the Small Arms Modernization
Project can meet its 2035 deadline.
Of course time it is vital that a competition for all aspects
of the Small Arms Modernization project should be held, later in the
government’s mandate of course. Therefore, to re-enforce the interim nature of
these interim weapons, they should be designated as a Provisional Interim
Substitute Transitional Ordnance-Limited Service or “P.I.S.T.O.L.S.” in all
future discussions.
BEST PISTOL FOR CANADA
http://jgmjgm516.blogspot.com/2017/02/best-pistol-for-canada.html
ARCHIVED - Small Arms
Modernization
Gun shy: A protracted
procurement to replace the general service pistol
Dec 4, 2018 | Equiment,
News, Procurement
Strong, secure, engaged :
Canada's defence policy.
P320-M17
