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Pentagon Announces Tender to Buy Russian-Made Ammunition – Report

CC0 / / US Marine Lance Corporal Cheema firing the East German MpiKMS-72 variant of the updated version of the AK-47 assault rifle. File photo
US Marine Lance Corporal Cheema firing the East German MpiKMS-72 variant of the updated version of the AK-47 assault rifle. File photo - Sputnik International
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This comes as the US Army Contracting Command is reportedly conducting a market survey to find suppliers of special ammunition and weapon systems for their delivery to unspecified locations outside the continental US.

A US Army Contracting Command notice has been posted on the US government’s main contracting website to ask for information from contractors capable of producing and delivering non-NATO special ammunition, the Defence Blog reports.

The notice indicates that the US Army “looks to buy small-calibre special ammunition” for use with Russian-made pistols, assault rifles and machine guns.

READ MORE: US Army Certifies Northrop Grumman to Compete to Develop Electromagnetic Weapons

The list specifically includes cartridges for Tokarev and Makarov pistols, Kalashnikov assault rifles of both calibres (5.45 mm and 7.62 mm) as well as DShK and YakB machine guns and SVD Dragunov rifles.

The Defence Blog claims that the US Army Contracting Command is monitoring the market to find “technically and financially capable sources for supplying and delivering multiple variants of Special Ammunition & Weapon Systems (SAWS) and non-NATO commercial ammunition from around the world for delivery to OCONUS [Outside (the) contiguous United States] locations”.

READ MORE: US Army Seeks New Weapons for ‘High Intensity’ Battles

This comes after Defence One reported earlier this month that the State Department plans to expand its so-called European Recapitalisation Incentive Programme; it stipulates Washington offering Eastern European countries cash to purchase American weaponry in exchange for their giving up Russian- and Chinese-made arms.

Ramstein Air Base, Germany recieving US ammo shipment - Sputnik International
US Arms Exports Rise Up to $192.3 Billion in Fiscal Year 2018 - State Department
The website cited an unnamed State Department official as saying that Washington now wants the year-old programme to go global and help US partners “get away or stay away from Russian or Chinese [military] equipment”.

The State Department reportedly vowed to allocate about $190 million for the implementation of the project in six countries — Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia and Slovakia.

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