Territorial Defence Forces
Polish Army Acquired Almost 8 Thousand Examples Of The Wz. 96 Beryl Carbines
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The Armament Inspectorate released information, according to which an order has been placed, which is going to facilitate acquisition of 5.5 thousand Wz. 96 Beryl 5.56 mm carbines, along with 2.4 thousand examples of the Wz. 96 Mini-Beryl weapons. The deliveries are going to take place until 2010, value of the order reaches an amount of PLN 42.5 million.
The information related to the signed agreement, the aim of which is to procure the Beryl and Mini-Beryl carbines comes as a result of the negotiations carried out within that scope by the Armament Inspectorate, involving the “Łucznik”-Radom Arms Factory. Ultimately – according to the assumptions made within the initial plans – 5498 Beryl carbines and 2400 Mini Beryl carbines are going to be acquired. Total value of the deal is said to reach an amount of PLN 42.534 million, including VAT.
The order is being realized as a single source procurement procedure. The Armament Inspectorate justifies the above mode with the fact that the Łucznik-Radom facility carried out the research and development works, financed by the Ministry of Defence, the aim of which was to implement the Beryl carbines utilizing the 5.56x45 mm NATO round, and that the plant remains the sole manufacturer of the weapon.
Due to the fact that change of the contractor would result in a lack of compatibility of the newly acquired equipment, with the one used by the Polish Army, and due to the fact that implementation, operation, maintenance and logistics would be significantly more difficult, should a new weapons system be procured, there is a need of ordering the carbines from the previous contractor.
It was also stressed that introduction of a new weapon would force the Polish Army to expand its logistics system, making it impossible to use the shared pool of replacement parts. In such case, proper training of the instructors, as well as of the users, would also be required. Lack of compatibility and difficult operation, logistics and maintenance constituted a premise for ordering the weapons from the manufacturer who had realized the prior deliveries.
The deliveries are scheduled to be executed between 2015 and 2016. Beryl carbine is used by the Polish Army, above all, to replace the AKM and AKMS Kalashnikov rifles which used the 7.62x39 mm ammunition. On the other hand, Mini-Beryl systems may be used by the support units, providing significantly more fire-power for the soldiers, especially in comparison with e.g. the machine pistols.