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full screen The armed forces’ firearms are worn out and the need for new weapons increases as the defense grows. Archive image. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
The Defense Forces’ deliveries of new firearms from the Finnish arms manufacturer Sako do not meet the immediate need. Therefore, 15,000 automatic carbines are urgently bought from the USA, reports SVT Nyheter.
– In addition to the regular order, we have made this interim order, to secure the possible gap that would arise, says Jonas Lotsne, head of army materiel at Försvarets materielverk (FMV), to the channel.
The armed forces’ current automatic carbine AK5 and other firearms have done their job and must be replaced. In 2023, FMV jointly signed a ten-year framework agreement with Finland to procure new weapons from Sako.
As the Finnish weapons cannot be delivered at a sufficiently high rate, FMV decided last autumn to also place an order from the USA, according to SVT. It is about thousands of Colt M4A1 automatic carbines. The price tag is unknown.
– We ended up in a situation where we had to do it that way, says Lotsne.