After having won the contract for USSOCOM’s new assault rifle, LMT Defense is betting on expanding its client portfolio among special operations units in Latin America with the MRGG-A. This was recently confirmed by the company to Zona Militar during the recent edition of AUSA, on which occasion the company’s product range was presented.
“…LMT has been on the market for 45 years. My partner, Carl Lewis, founded the company in 1980. What you see here at AUSA are some of our most recent contracts. We are mainly a defense contractor… We also sell to the commercial sector, but our main customers are the military…”, the company told Zona Militar. At AUSA, part of the material on display corresponded to the contract with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), which will use the MRGG-A as an assault rifle, as well as rifles belonging to agreements with the Swiss Army and the UK Ministry of Defence.
In the British case, LMT Defense began supplying weapons starting in 2009. The most recent contracts consist of an upgrade for the tuning and modernization of in-service rifles. “…In our most recent contracts, we work with various calibers: The first is a 6.5 Creedmoor, then we have the 5.56 caliber and then the 7.62…”, LMT told ZM, emphasizing the variety of options to meet current market requirements.
The latest news for LMT Defense was the award of the contract for the MRGG-A program, on which occasion USSOCOM and the company signed an agreement that will extend for 10 years with the purpose of providing an indefinite quantity, with a maximum limit of U$D 92 million, “…for Medium Range Gas – Assault Rifle kits (MRGG-A), spare parts and accessories, training on new equipment and engineering modification proposals…”.
This acquisition by USSOCOM and the contract with LMT Defense for the MRGG-A occur within the framework of an initiative that took its first steps several years ago, with the objective of materializing an assault rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor caliber, aiming to improve capabilities in terms of effective range, accuracy and power.
The USSOCOM MRGG-A assault rifle
The MRGG-A is a rifle developed based on the outstanding experiences obtained with the MARS family (Modular Ambidextrous Rifle System, Ambidextrous Rifle Modular System). USSOCOM’s new assault rifle features a 14.5-inch barrel, capability for semi-automatic and automatic fire, an ambidextrous configuration and the well-known MRP system (Monolithic Rail Platform; Monolithic Rail Platform), among others.
One of the highlighted points of the MRGG-A is the aforementioned MRP system, which consists of a solid piece of aerospace forged 7075-T6 aluminum that, thanks to its design, allows the barrel to float freely, with the benefits this implies for shot accuracy and consistency. “…The greater rigidity provided by the MRP allows the rifle, the optic and other aiming devices to retain zero, even after intensive use…”, LMT Defense detailed.
International customers
“…We manufacture many rifles for numerous allied countries around the world, including the U.S. We also provide spare parts for the U.S. government and other companies that manufacture machine guns, among other equipment. We have been in this business for many years…we have been supplying weapons internationally since the 1980s and currently have a presence throughout Europe,” LMT Defense said at AUSA.
LMT Defense rifles are in service with the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Switzerland, as well as with several special forces groups across Europe. “…We do the same in Asia. We have a very important contract with the New Zealand Army. It was a great achievement for us. South Korea has bought quite a few weapons from us and the Philippines has been our client for a long time. In fact, the Philippine Marines carry our products…”.
In Latin America, LMT Defense has managed to enter the special operations niche with its rifles. “…We have had a lot of work in Colombia with their special forces. A few years ago, we also supplied the Chilean special forces…”.
Although the South American market presents its particularities, LMT Defense has managed to carve out a small niche which it hopes to expand in the future thanks to the options presented by USSOCOM’s MRGG-A rifle. “…With the SOCOM contract we are already receiving sample requests from several countries and we are supplying weapons to other special forces commands…”.
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