Ottawa/CMEDIA: Canada govt is reportedly making a $307 million procurement deal, covering just the first three years of the contract to buy 30,000 made-in-Canada assault rifles for the Canadian Army from Colt.
Following this deal, the federal government has the option of acquiring another 35,000 rifles.
Ensuring the army will quickly get the equipment it needs to replace the aging C7 and C8 rifles, the order for the new modular assault rifles, Stephen Fuhr, secretary of state for defence procurement said that the delivery is expected in early 2027.
“The army’s current rifles, they’ve had them for 35 years. I’m sure they had a shelf life of less than that. So they’re looking forward to having a new piece of equipment and we’re happy to get it for them,” he told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
“This is the weapon the Canadian Armed Forces wanted.”
Working to push this contract forward since the fall Fuhr said the commander of the Canadian Army, Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright, told him the government managed to shave two years off the procurement timeline.
The purchase of the rifles directly through the munition supply program, Fuhr said, was accomplished by employing special pandemic-era purchasing procedures and managing the contract through the new Defence Investment Agency.
Colt is committed to ensuring 80 per cent of each rifle will be sourced from within Canada and the ammunition will also be made in Canada.
Fuhr said that the project is also expected to contribute $10 million annually to GDP over five years and added Colt will add 70 jobs to its Canadian workforce to fulfil the contract.
Denmark also announced a few months ago it would purchase 50,000 of the same rifles.
“I couldn’t think of a better textbook example of what we’re trying to achieve here,” Fuhr said. “Pulling up the economy, exciting the supply chain and exporting to our allies.”
It’s not clear yet what will happen to the old rifles.
As the latest development in the federal government’s ongoing defence spending spree, this contract follows recent announcements of $200 million for a dedicated space launch pad and $1.4 billion for the domestic munitions industry.
Nearly $1 billion to put toward drones and aircraft research and equipment is also being given to the National Research Council.
