Page 8 - AVALON 2023 - Day 3 | DAILY NEWS

NIOA ACQUIRES BARRETT FIREARMS IN THE USA

The defence company Nioa made an just nine years younger than Nioa. Rheinmetall Nioa Munitions, an artillery
announcement on 17 January that it shell forging factory in Maryborough,
had completed an acquisition of the Nioa stated in a press release: ‘All man- Queensland.
American firm Barrett Firearms. No agement and staff at the Murfreesboro
details on the financial ins and outs of manufacturing facility in Tennessee Nioa’s workforce will double in size to
the 100% takeover have been revealed, have been retained, and production will about 400.
continue as normal.’ Not only that, but
but Barrett is famous for its long-range Nioa expects production there to even
and large-calibre rifles. expand in the future. This takeover is hugely significant for
Nioa. Not only has it expanded its pres-
Barrett Firearms will continue to func- The other divisions of the group are ence and penetrated the US market,
tion under its own name, but will become Nioa Australia, Nioa New Zealand but Nioa moves on from being merely
a distinct division of the Nioa Group. and Australian Missile Corporation. a distributor of firearms to become a
Barrett was founded in 1982, making it There is also a joint venture known as manufacturer in its own right.

NIOA DELIVERS © SIG Sauer

SMALL ARMS

TO ARMY

UNDER LAND

1 TRANCHE 159

Within Australia, Nioa as prime contractor
is helping deliver the ADF’s Project Land
159 Tranche 1, which is a multi-faceted
programme promising a bevy of new small
arms to soldiers.

Brisbane-based Nioa had been selected in
July 2020 to approach the market and to
subsequently evaluate and select eleven
categories of weapons and accessories P320s have reflex sights and a white-light for snipers is Safran’s JIM Compact mul-
under this AUD527.2 million (USD380.6 illuminator. SIG Sauer will also supply its tispectral surveillance device and Steiner
million) Lethality Systems project. modular MCX in .300 Blackout calibre as laser range-finding binoculars.
a personal defence weapon for specialist
Commencement of the acquisition phase roles. Finally, ZU Bladeworx is providing dou-
of Land 159 Tranche 1 was announced by ble-edged fighting knives with a 100mm
Major General Andrew Bottrell, Head Land The Australian Army will get new combat blade.
Systems, on 30 September 2022. ‘This is a shotguns in the shape of the Benelli M3A1
bold step into modern weaponry to quickly too. Useable in semiautomatic or pump-ac- While no information is available on the
improve Australia’s defence preparedness tion modes, the shotguns have red dot quantity of each weapon type being
... The collaboration between Defence and sights and white-light illuminators. acquired for the ADF, first deliveries could
industry means we will acquire the best occur midyear. Nioa will acquire, verify,
available weapon systems for our troops,’ Snipers have not been left out either. The validate, certify, introduce into service and
he explained. Accuracy International AX-SR will act as a provide through-life support for each of the
long-range sniper rifle, these multi-calibre aforementioned weapons.
So what does Land 159 encompass? rifles able to fire .338 Lapua Magnum, .300
First off the rank are sniper, surveillance, Norma Magnum or 7.62mm calibre bullets. Before making its recommendations for
target acquisition, assault breaching and each weapon/accessory type to govern-
close-combat weapons. These will serve Heavier yet is the Barrett M107A1 anti-ma- ment, via a final evaluation report submitted
the ADF beyond 2030. terial sniper rifle, complete with optics, on 4 November 2021, Nioa’s ‘best-of-breed’
night vision, range-finding devices and selection process saw it sampling 649 dif-
Already selected are SIG Sauer P320 suppressors. Incidentally, the M107A1 had ferent products in conjunction with the
XCarry Pro 9mm pistols, which will super- been selected before Nioa acquired Barrett ADF. More than 31,000 rounds were fired
sede incumbent Browning Mk3 pistols. The Firearms in early 2023. Also being procured in testing.

8 | MARCH-02-2023 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/DAILY NEWS