The Portuguese army is ditching the G3 and getting a US spec ops-inspired rifle

For years, the Portuguese Army has built their infantry corps around the Gewehr 3 (G3) battle rifle, jointly developed by a team of engineers from Heckler & Koch and the Spanish CETME state-owned research group in the 1950s.

Built under license in Portugal as the Espingarda m/961, this rifle has seen action in conflicts from the Portuguese Colonial War to deployments in Kosovo, East Timor and Afghanistan.

According to both NATO and the country's Ministry of National Defence, it's now time for a drastic change and overhaul that will see the Portuguese Army jump feet first into the 21st century with a large revamp and overhaul of its small arms arsenal and individual soldier systems and kit.

When the country's state-owned arms producer shut down just over a decade ago, it left Portugal without the means to manufacture firearms domestically, and brought about the need to source new weapons from foreign vendors. NATO's Support and Procurement Agency was thus commissioned to find and buy new weaponry for the Portuguese military by the country's defense apparatus.

After a relatively short and streamlined testing and evaluation period, the NSPA awarded Belgian arms giant Fabrique National (FN) Herstal an expansive USD $50.3 million contract to be fulfilled by 2022.

Full article: https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/irons/2019/03/20/the-portuguese-army-is-ditching-the-g3-and-getting-a-us-spec-ops-inspired-rifle