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| Department of National Defense (DND) acquisition of 9 mm Striker-fired Pistols |
An Anti-Corruption Watchdog recently questioned the plan of the Department of National Defense (DND) to buy Service Pistols for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying that it is overpriced and its Technical Specifications could have been made to favor certain Suppliers.
The first Issue they cited was the Price of the Pistols which has a budget of Php 1.782 billion for 36,000 Pistols which breaks down to around Php 49,500 per Unit. This is much higher than the typical Retail Price for these types of Pistols which is only around Php 22,000 per Unit as per them.
The second Issue they cited was the need for the Pistols to have an Aluminum or Steel Frame since no North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) uses Pistols with this type of Frame anymore as of now as per them also.
‘My Opinion’
I agree on both Issues, the Planned purchase does seem to be overpriced and could be skewed to favor certain Suppliers. First off, yes, the Price is too high, especially for the Specifications they provided and especially since they are buying these in bulk.
Canada, for example, bought 7,000 P320 Pistols from Sig Sauer in October 2022 for only Usd 3.2 million, or Usd 457 per Unit, or around Php 26,000 per Unit assuming an Exchange Rate of Php 56.9 per Dollar, and the Contract already includes the Pistols, Holsters, Spare Parts and Training.
As for the second Issue, again yes, why go to Aluminum or Steel Frames now when a vast majority of the Pistols being used by Law Enforcement and Military Organizations nowadays are already using Polymer Frames?
The P320 Pistol I mentioned above that Canada bought has a Polymer Frame, and the P320 is also used by most if not all of the Branches of the United States (US) Armed Forces. The Polymer-framed Pistols made by Glock is one of most widely used (if not THE most widely used) Pistols by Police and Military Organizations, so why are we suddenly trying to go back to using Aluminum or Steel-framed Pistols?
Polymer-framed Pistols are much lighter, a fully loaded Glock 17 weighs as much as an EMPTY single-stack, steel-framed M1911 Pistol for example. The Polymer frame also helps reduce felt recoil and allows for a shorter Grip Radius to fit smaller Hands.
‘Final Thoughts’
There does seem to be something wrong with this acquisition, I think the DND should review it and make the necessary corrections. If not and they insist on pushing thru with it, it might come back and haunt them later.
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