SOCOM Looking forAmerican Manufacturer for AK's

[Moped]

SOCOM is looking for companies to produce the iconic AK47 and other Soviet style firearms.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/10/special-operations-command-looks-to-u-s-companies-for-homemade-ak-47s/

[shotgunshooter]

If they want homemade AKs they will be suited just fine with Century Arms RAS 47s.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[DaveTN]

So the CIA and SOCOM are worried that if their allies will have weapons that work, it may make them targets, so their plan is to make AK’s here instead of giving them rifles better than the POS AK? And then stick us with a big azz bill to make junk? Sounds like something the government would come up with.No thank you.

[shotgunshooter]

Hopefully they will go with someone like DDI, Definitive Arms, or Rifle Dynamics. I'd really like to see that DDI would get the contract since there are in TN and cranking out a great rifle.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Pete123]

I agree with Dave.  The mentioned other weapons, but let's take the AK 47.  They could buy them somewhere in the world for $250-$300 dollars.  

They'll wind up with a US contract paying $5,000 a piece for them.  Remember when the Marines brought back the 1911?  Those cost $5,000 per gun.

[Garufa]

I'm all for supporting American businesses, especially since one of the best AK makers is right here in Knoxville, but this is just stupid.

This planet is flooded with AK's and the ammo to feed them.  We have already expended untold funds capturing and buying both. Where did it all go?

 

 

[btq96r]

They should have just taken every AK we confiscated in Iraq and Afghan, and stuck it in a warehouse in Kuwiat.  More than enough to get the ball rolling on what they need this for.

This is probably a workaround to the import bans that the President set up a few years back after the Russians annexed Crimea.   I'm fine with keeping money out of Russian hands by building them in-house...but I'm not thrilled at who they might go to.  Historically, arming foreign fighters has been a 10-20yr plan to having those weapons turned on us. 

[btq96r]

2 minutes ago, Garufa said:

This planet is flooded with AK's and the ammo to feed them.  We have already expended untold funds capturing and buying both. Where did it all go?

As to the captured portion, my unit had to send them up the chain, where their final disposition was handled somewhere else.  I think they were destroyed in caches with controlled detonations as transportation and storage was cost prohibitive at the time.

[Garufa]

1 minute ago, btq96r said:

As to the captured portion, my unit had to send them up the chain, where their final disposition was handled somewhere else.  I think they were destroyed in caches with controlled detonations as transportation and storage was cost prohibitive at the time.

So instead of stockpiling like they do (the smart thing) we just blow stuff up and then come back wanting more money to replace it.  

Complete ignorance.

[nightrunner]

Am I the only one who thinks we shouldn't be arming anyone that isn't a dedicated ally? If they aren't a member of NATO, we shouldn't be giving them weapons. And if they are a member of NATO and can't supply their own weapons, they can make do with our worn out hand me downs that we don't want anymore anyways.

[btq96r]

22 minutes ago, nightrunner said:

Am I the only one who thinks we shouldn't be arming anyone that isn't a dedicated ally?

No, I feel the same way.  Selling weapons to the Saudi, Kuwaiti, UAE, and even the Kurdish governments is one thing, arming insurgent groups to try and effect what is at best a half thought policy is a mess waiting to happen.

[nightrunner]

16 minutes ago, btq96r said:

No, I feel the same way.  Selling weapons to the Saudi, Kuwaiti, UAE, and even the Kurdish governments is one thing, arming insurgent groups to try and effect what is at best a half thought policy is a mess waiting to happen.

What is actually happening?

 

Selling weapons to a government I would think is OK. Giving them to a non allied government, not ok. Selling to insurgents as a government, not ok. Giving to insurgents, hell no.

[btq96r]

1 hour ago, nightrunner said:

What is actually happening?

 

Selling weapons to a government I would think is OK. Giving them to a non allied government, not ok. Selling to insurgents as a government, not ok. Giving to insurgents, hell no.

We sell weapons (large and small) to a lot of countries, Middle East ones included.  Some aren't controversial, like Kuwait and the UAE, others are iffy like Saudi Arabia (who we use as a go between to get them to Yemen), and then there are the sales to Pakistan, which should make anyone with half a brain wonder aloud about.

Since it's a SOCOM solicitation, it leads me to think it's about arming local groups, like the ones fighting in Syria against ISIS and the Assad government.  But the timeline would be for much later down the line.  It could be for helping to equip a local force for a legitimate government that US Special Operations troops are working with, but I think that would be a secondary effort.

Setting aside my reservations about arming any group in that part of the world, it makes sense logistically.  We tried getting some of the Afghan and Iraqi armies used to M4s and M16s, but it was a waste since they don't practice marksmanship or weapons maintenance like we do, and they were used to AK's to begin with.

[Omega]

3 hours ago, Garufa said:

So instead of stockpiling like they do (the smart thing) we just blow stuff up and then come back wanting more money to replace it.  

Complete ignorance.

I know it sounds bad, but logistically speaking there was no other way.  We were moving so fast that we didn't have transportation or enough guards to keep the quantities of weapons found in multiple caches.  Since most of the Iraqi military she'd their uniforms there was no way we wanted those weapons left intact for those we left behind us. As it was many hardened armories were raided let alone those in schools and medical facilities. 

[DaveTN]

14 hours ago, Garufa said:

So instead of stockpiling like they do (the smart thing) we just blow stuff up and then come back wanting more money to replace it.  

Complete ignorance.

Exactly. I would never do anything to take away from an American manufacturer, but when we already have a better product it would be crazy to build AK’s here and put a giant price tag on them for the government.

The CIA has no problem with bending (or breaking) laws to fit their needs and then saying it is the name of “National Security”. So have them buy a boat load of AK’s from Russia, China, or even North Korea; I don’t care. I’m sure Obama will sign an EO to allow them to do an end run around his EO. He has no problem doing an end run around the Constitution; I see no problem with this.