Squad Automatic Weapon (Phase 2) Joint Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army and Philippine Navy (Marines)

With the continuing need for new Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW), the Philippine Army (PA), together with the Philippine Navy on behalf of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) requested for the acquisition of new 5.56x45mm light machine guns, that would be distributed to front line units of both services.

As a continuation of the success of one of the AFP Modernization Program's first Capability Upgrade Program, the Squad Automatic Weapon (Phase 2) Joint Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army and Philippine Navy (Marines) called for the purchase of 6,540 new SAWs as an initial procurement. 

A Philippine Army infantryman with a K3 squad automatic weapon. Photo credits to the Philippine Army.

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Project Summary:

Squad Automatic Weapon (Phase 2) Joint Acquisition Project:

Note: Edited as of 23 April 2025.

* End User: Philippine Army and Philippine Navy (Marines) (multiple units)

* Quantity: 6,540 units

* Modernization Phase: Capability Upgrade Program of the AFP Modernization Program (RA 7898)

* Project ABC: Php1,727,438,000.00, increased from original Php613,894,000.00

* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding

* Source of Funding: GAA Funds through AFP Modernization Program Trust Fund

* Winning Proponent: Joint Venture of Hanwha Corporation and S&T Daewoo

* Product for Delivery: S&T Daewoo K3 5.56x45mm Light Machine Gun

* Contract Price: Php1,210,725,915.00

* Residual Difference (Savings): Php516,712,085.00

* First post by MaxDefense: TBC

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PAPMCSAWPhase2Acquisition

* Status: Initial project has a lower budget and quantity requirement, and was awarded to FN Herstal in 2013 and Contract signed on 13 July 2004. Project was put on hold after allegation of overpricing and irregularities on implementation. Project was restarted with a higher budget and quantity requirement in 2007, with Joint Venture of Hanwha Corporation and S&T Daewoo was declared the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bidder, and Notice of Award released on 15 June 2007. Initial batch of 700 units delivered on 03 December 2007, with the rest delivered by June 2008. PROJECT COMPLETED.

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Overview:

With the success of an earlier procurement of Squad Automatic Weapons for both the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps, a new requirement was raised in 2003 for a total of 1,700 units with a proposed Approved Budget of Contract (ABC) worth Php613,894,000.00.

The new SAWs are expected to arm infantry and marine units and replace older machine guns which consist of older variants of the venerable M60 7.62mm general purpose machine guns (GPMGs) which are very heavy especially for smaller Filipino physique compared to the M60 which was designed for use by larger caucasian or black soldiers of the US Armed Forces.

An M60E3 at the hands of a squad automatic rifleman. Reliability has been an issue with these machine guns, as well as weight due to their design and use of larger 7.62x51mm NATO rounds.

The SAWs are also expected to replace a number of non-standard models including the Singaporean-made CIS Ultimax 100, and other models.

Back then, the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps only has a few light machine guns in service. Aside from the few hundred FN Minimi LMGs acquired under the Phase 1 of the SAW Joint Acquisition Project, volume fire support was provided by M60 GPMG, which are also in limited quantity in both services.

The CIS Ultimax 100 5.56x45mm light machine gun, which was availability in very limited numbers in PA service. Photo taken from Wikipedia.

To have commonality with the earlier acquisition of FN Minimi, the DND directly negotiated with FN Herstal in 2003 for the acquisition of 1,700 light machine guns with a budget of Php613,894,000.00.

Both parties signed a Contract by 13 July 2004, and the Notice to Proceed released on 06 September 2004.

Allegations of fraud and overpricing surfaced considering the average price of each FN Minimi LMG was valued at around Php361,114.00, which is too high at that time.

It was also found that the deal failed to meet the requirements of Republic Act 9184 due to the use of foreign currency, as well as requirements of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) with regards to pricing for follow-on acquisitions.

Pressure from lawmakers and other groups forced the DND to review the contract and ultimately cancel it, with FN Herstal being against the cancellation.

Due to the urgency of SAWs in both ground services, the DND again raised the need to restart the project, which it did in 2007 when it released new technical specifications and Invitation to Bid, this time under a Public Tender.

The budget was increased from Php613,894,000.00 to Php1,727,438,000.00, and the quantity was also increased from 1,700 units to 6,540 units. This gives an average budget of Php264,134.00 per LMG, which is almost 27% lower than the average price in the earlier contract with FN Herstal.

During the public bidding, FN Herstal participated with their Minimi as their offer, competing against several other tenderers, with the Bid Submission scheduled on 30 March 2007.

Eventually the Joint Venture of Hanwha Defense and S&T Daewoo submitted the lowest bid and also passing the Post-Bid Qualifications, with an offer worth Php1,270,725,915.00, or an average of Php194,300.00 per LMG.

The Notice of Award was released on 15 June 2007, and the Letter of Credit opened on 21 November 2007.

S&T Daewoo showed their capability to deliver quickly when they delivered the first batch of 700 units by 03 December 2007, while the rest of the orders were delivered in full by June 2008.

The DND declared the project as Completed as of August 2008.

Since their delivery, the S&T Daewoo K3 became the most prolific light machine gun / squad automatic weapon in both the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps.

An automatic rifleman with the Philippine Army, now sporting the S&T Daewoo K3 SAW. Photo credits to the Philippine Army.

The increase in quantity in the K3 SAWs has allowed both the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps to capitalize on this by replacing the M60 as Squad Automatic Weapon, while also allowing for carrying more ammunition due to the use of the smaller and lighter 5.56x45mm NATO rounds.

This gave automatic riflemen longer staying power in providing fire support, while the reduced weight of the SAW gave them better flexibility especially in movement.

A typical Philippine Army Infantry Squad in the 2020s, with the automatic rifleman from both Fire Team A and B using the K3 5.56mm SAW. Photo credits to the Philippine Army.

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With the Minimi SAWs already delivered and formally activated with different units of the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps, MaxDefense officially consider the Squad Automatic Weapon (Phase 2) Joint Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army and Philippine Navy (Marines) as COMPLETED.

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First posted and released on 26 April 2025.
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource

81mm Mortar with Ammunitions (2012) Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army

The Philippine Army raised a requirement for new 81mm Mortars to replace ageing ones and equip units for fire support requirements.

An example of an 81mm mortar with a variety of ammunition. Photo credits to ESD.

Project Summary:

81mm Mortar with Ammunition (2012) Acquisition Project:

Note: Edited as of 19 April 2025.

* End User: Philippine Army (multiple units)

* Quantity: 100 units, 81mm Mortars, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and logistics support

* Modernization Phase: Capability Upgrade Program of the AFP Modernization Program (RA 7898)

* Project ABC: Php189,500,000.00

* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding

* Source of Funding: AFP Modernization Trust Fund

* SARO Release/s: N/A

* Winning Proponent: Joint Venture of Joavi Philippines Inc (Philippines) and Talon Security Consulting & Trade Ltd. (Israel)

* Product/s for Delivery: M89B 81mm Mortar from BNT Tvornica Masina I Hidraulike (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

* Contract Price: Php189,500,000.00

* Residual Amount: Php0.00

* First post by MaxDefense: TBC

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PA81mmMortar2013Acquisition

* Status: The Invitation to Bid was released on November 2010, although it took several rounds of public bidding before it hurdled bidding failures. The NOA was made in favor of JV of Joavi Philippines and Talon Security Consulting & Trade Ltd. of israel in 2012, with the Contract and Notice to Proceed released ion the same year. The mortars were said to have been delivered starting 3rd quarter of 2013, and was already in display during the AFP Anniversary on December 2013. Project was declared complete by the DND as of March 2014.. PROJECT COMPLETED.


Overview:

The Department of National Defense (DND) released an Invitation to Bid on November 2010, for a new project called 81mm Mortar Acquisition Project with project number AFPMP-G-PA-10-004.

This project involves the acquisition of 100 new 81mm mortars, and 2,000 rounds of 81mm mortar ammunition.

The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of this project is Php 190,320,000.00, with the mortar worth Php 170,320,000 while the ammunition is worth Php 20,000,000.00.

Only one company, a joint venture of Joavi Philippines Corp. and Israeli firm Talon Secuirty Consulting and Trade Ltd. (Talon) submitted a bid worth Php189,500,000.00.

Interesting is the background of Talon which was also involved in a controversial deal for mortar ammunition with the AFP in 2009, which they were cleared later on.

They were also involved in a controversial arms trade in Iraq by being the agent of defense companies in Serbia and Montenegro. This is probably the connection that was also used in winning the 81mm Mortar Acquisition Project, wherein the joint venture of Joavi and Talon offered the M69B from Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The M69B mortar during tests prior to delivery. Photo taken from the PARDC Facebook page.

The M69B was based on the Yugoslavian M69 which was originally designed as an 82mm mortar for the Yugoslav People's Army.

Upon the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the early 90s, most of the country's former states like Serbia and Bosnia brought with them the industry, technical know-how, and skill to make arms and weaponry.

With the democratization of these former Yugoslav states, arms standardization slowly leaned towards NATO's own standard, which eventually affected the production of the M69 mortar.

An 81mm NATO-compatible version was built, designated as M69B, which is the same model offered to the Philippine Army. 

The original M69 mortar uses a 82mm caliber, non-NATO compliant version. A NATO-compatible version, the M69B, is the model sold to the Philippine Army. Photo taken from Krusik Holdings Corp. website.

According to media reports, the mortars were supplied by a Serbian company to the Joavi-Talon joint venture.

Our parent page MaxDefense Philippines also initially thought it was Serbian-sourced, being the dominant former Yugoslav state and home to most of the former Yugoslavia's defense manufacturing sector.

But a MaxDefense Philippines source from the defense industry and involved in the actual transaction and testing of the mortars confirmed that the mortars were actually made by a Bosnian company, BNT-Tvornica Masina i Hidraulike, d.d (BNT-TMiH), based in Novi Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This company actually made the mortar's major components like the barrel, breech, breech block and the undercarriage, and also make mortar and artillery components for other major manufacturers from other Western countries.

This company is also the manufacturer of the 155mm howitzer being offered by Joavi Philippines to the DND as part of the 155mm Howitzer Acquisition Project which is discussed in a separate Resource page. 

In turn, this company's products were marketed internationally by a Serbian defense marketing agent which has the connections to the Israeli company. So to those asking, that was the reason why these mortars are actually Bosnian.

The mortars were delivered starting by 3rd quarter of 2013, with the initial batch already on display during the Armed Forces of the Philippines' anniversary on December 2013.

Delivery completion was made in early 2014, with the DND in its report declaring the project completed by March 2014.

The M69B 81mm mortars on display during AFP Anniversary on December 2013. Photo credits to Philippine Army.

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With the M69B 81mm Mortars and 2,000 rounds of  already delivered and formally inducted with the Philippine Army as of 2014, MaxDefense and Philippine Defense Resource officially consider the 81mm Mortar with Ammunitions (2012) Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army as COMPLETED.

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First edit and release: 19 April 2025
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource