Poland ordered more 5.56 mm Grot C16 assault rifles and 9 mm Vis 100 semi-automatic pistols from manufacturer Fabryka Broni-Łucznik Radom on 30 September.
“By 2022, every third soldier of the Polish Armed Forces will be equipped with the modern Grot rifle manufactured by Fabryka Broni in Radom, said Polish Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak at a signing ceremony for the order.
In September 2017, a contract worth PLN290 million (USD72.43 million) was signed for 32,000 MSBS Grot rifles chambered in 5.56x45 mm to be delivered by March 2020. This deal has now been extended with the ordering of 18,000 more rifles worth PLN162 million over the 2020–2022 period.
Most of the 26,645 Grot rifles so far delivered are used by the soldiers of the newly formed Territorial Defence Forces (Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej: WOT).
Meanwhile, a December 2018 contract for Vis 100 9x19 mm pistols has been extended to a total of 19,900 pistols worth PLN49 million. According to the contract, the first 3,178 pistols are to be delivered by 15 December this year.
Last month, the WOT handed over 1,412 Grot rifles to the first Polish Land Forces units to receive them: the 6th Airborne Brigade and the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade. The new firearms are replacing those units’ 5.56 mm WZ.96 Beryl rifles.
This is part of a PLN400 million armament and equipment package (including UKM-2000P machine guns, SAKO TRG M10 and Bor sniper rifles, Jelcz trucks, night vision googles and sights) purchased under the WOT budget but transferred to the Land Forces from 2017–2019.
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