After Peru, Argentina mulls buying Israeli IWI rifles

The Argentine Ministry of Defense is considering replacing its old Belgian FN FAL rifles with new Arad 7 assault rifles made by Israeli weapons industries (IWI), according to a report on the ZM website. The report says Argentina recently sent a delegation to Israel to seriously examine the deal. If the deal goes through, the guns are expected to be manufactured in Argentina — a key consideration for the government in Buenos Aires.

IWI makes the Arad 5 and Arad 7 assault rifles. The Arad 5 weighs 2.8 kilograms and fires 5.56 mm bullets, and was initially developed for the Israel Defense Forces’ special forces. Argentina is said to be interested in the Arad 7, which fires 7.62 mm bullets and weighs 4.15 kilograms.

If Argentina does buy the rifles, it wouldn’t be the first Latin American country to receive IWI assault rifles. During Peru’s Independence Day celebrations last month, the Peruvian military proudly presented its new Arad 7 rifles. One of the units that received the rifles was the first special forces unit in the Peruvian army. During the event, the Peruvian military announced that it would receive about 10,000 rifles. The government in Lima said the rifles were part of a program to upgrade the Peruvian military’s capabilities. An estimated 3,500 rifles have already been delivered to Peru, with the rest scheduled to arrive by the end of October. Like Argentina, Peru is replacing its Belgian-made FN FALs and Galil rifles that IWI has produced in the past.

This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on September 12, 2024.

© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.