ORD PABAC2-061-24 Carbine, 5.56mm (AR15/M4 Platform), Gas Piston Acquisition Project of the Philippine Army

Philippine Defense Resource December 30, 2025 0

The Philippine Army (PA) has raised a requirement for the acquisition of new 5.56mm Carbines as part of its acquisition for Fiscal Year 2024, despite being released on Fiscal Year 2025.

This is part of a multi-year effort to improve the overall firepower delivery capability of the force, as well as replace ageing or lost/damaged assets.

With this, the Philippine Army, through its Bids and Awards Committee 2 (PABAC-2), invited manufacturers and suppliers to submit a bid for the Carbine, 5.56mm (AR15/M4 Platform), Gas Piston Acquisition Project.

An M4-type rifle during tests. Photo credits to The Firearms Blog.

Project Summary:

Carbine, 5.56mm (AR15/M4 Platform), Gas Piston Acquisition Project:

Note: Edited as of 30 December 2025

* Project Number: ORD PABAC2-061-24

* End User: Philippine Army

* Minimum Quantity: 8,234 units

* Modernization Phase: Philippine Army GAA Acquisition for 2024

* Project ABC: Php806,932,000.00

* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding

* Source of Funding: Philippine Army GAA Funds for 2024

* SARO Release: N/A

* Winning Proponent: Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd. (SK) through United Defense Manufacturing Corporation (PH)

* Product for Delivery: Dasan DSAR-15 5.56mm assault rifle

* Total Quantities to be Delivered: 15,626 units

* Contract Price: Php752,007,485.88

* Residual Difference (Savings): Php54,924,514.12

* First post by MaxDefense: 23 December 2025 (this post)

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PACarbine556GasPiston2024Acquisition

* Status: Public tender was opened on 23 October 2025, SOBE was scheduled on 17 November 2025, moved to 24 November 2025. Notice of Award released in favour of South Korea's Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd. thorough its local representative United Defense Manufacturing Corp. on 11 December 2025, NTP and Contract signed on 17 December 2025.

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Overview:

The Philippine Army has continuously been acquiring small firearms including rifles in an annual basis, in some cases even more than once a year.

In this case, a requirement was made for 8,234 units, using the Philippine Army's Capital Outlay funds for Fiscal Year 2024.

Despite the funding coming from 2024, the project was only raised in 2025 which may mean that the Philippine Army was not able to use the funds back in 2024, but must now use it before the end of 2025 or risk losing the funds as they are required to return it back to the National Treasury.

Technical Requirements:

We noticed that the specifications used by the Philippine Marine Corps has a wider range in terms of dimensions, performance, and operating system compared to previous specifications used by the Philippine Army.

This means that the PMC is very open to any brand and design as long as it meets the requirements.

Among those noted are the following:

Caliber: 5.56mm x 45mm NATO
Overall Length: maximum of 900mm with buttstock fully extended, maximum of 810 mm with buttstock fully retracted
Overall Weight: maximum of 4.0kg without magazine
Barrel: M4A1 type, 1:7 rifling twist, 366.76mm to 370.84mm (14.4 to 14.6 inches) long, medium contour with M203 cut-out, made of Cold Hammer Forged High Grade Chromium-Molybdenum-Vanadium Alloy Steel

Receiver Assembly Material Composition: 7075-T6 Aluminium Alloy
Rail Interface: MID STD 1913
Operating System: Direct Gas Impingement System (DGIS)
Rate of Fire: 700 to 970 rounds per minute
Feeding: capable of accepting STANAG M16 30-round magazine

Major Accessories:
* 1 x 30-round STANAG magazines per rifle
* 1 x 3-point Tactical Sling per rifle

Potential Competitors:

Since the project is being acquired through public tender, it would be difficult to guess which offer would be accepted as public tender tends to be priced-based especially that most of the tenderers have been participating in similar projects before.

Based on the Supplemental Bid Bulletin No. 1 released on 11 November 2025, there are at least 4 interested tenderers, namely, United Defense Manufacturing Corporation (UDMC), Taurus Armas, Nashe Enterprises, and Armscor Global Defense Inc.

1. The RD4P rifle from Armscor Global Defense - this could be their first potential supply of the new rifle, only released in 2024, to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The rifles are built locally in Armscor's manufacturing facility in Marikina which fits the general overall preference to support the local arms industry.

The RD4P rifle from Armscor Global Defense. Photo credits to Insider.ph.

2. The SIGM400 or the SIG516G2 from SIG Sauer, both of which has already been sold to the Philippine Army in previous AR15-type rifle requirements. The SIG516G2 is the latest variant of the SIG516 short-stroke piston rifle, which is similar to the SIG716G2 7.62mm rifles also already in use with the Philippine Army.

The SIG516G2 (top) and the SIGM400 (above). Photo credits to SIG Sauer.

3. The DSAR15 and DSAR15P rifles from South Korea' Dasan Machineries, which have been competing with in similar projects in the past. It has found success in winning a tender for the Philippine Air Force, and is expected to participate in this project for the PMC.

The Dasan DSAR15P (top) and DSAR15. Photo credits to Dasan Machineries.

4. The Taurus T4 rifle from Brazil's Taurus Armas, which have also been sold in the Philippine Army, even becoming one of the M4-type rifles with the highest quantity in the PA's inventory after the Remington R4A3.

The Taurus T4. Photo credits to Ricardo Torres.

It is expected that other suppliers may offer alternatives from other countries including other models from Israel, US and Europe, but it would be difficult to assess until we actually see a list of submitted tenders.

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U P D A T E S:
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18 December 2025:

The Notice of Award was released by the Philippine Army's Bids and Awards Committee through the Office of the Commanding General, in favour of the South Korea's Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd. through its Philippine representative United Defense Manufacturing Corp. last 11 December 2025.

It is expected that a Contract and Notice to Proceed might be made available in a few months.

Based on the MEAB Evaluation posted on 01 December 2025, Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd beat Taurus Armas S.A. and the Joint Venture of Nashe Enterprises and Mertsav Defense of Turkiye, ranking 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively. It appears that Armscor Global Defense did not submit a bid.

Dasan Machineries appears to have priced the lowest of the three submitted tenders, which allowed them to score the highest on Financing Rating. The South Korean arms maker also scored the highest on Technical Rating, after offering an additional 7,392 units of the same rifle, with committed deliveries totalling 15,626 units.

The MEAB evaluation, photo credits to Philippine Army.

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20 December 2025:

United Defense Manufacturing Corp. on behalf of Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd. received the Notice to Proceed and signed the Contract with the Department of National Defense on 16 December 2025, paving the way for the start of the project and confirmation of Dasan Machineries' win.

The total contract cost is Php752,007,485.88.

The contract also included the Schedule of Requirements which shows what Dasan Machineries would deliver as part of the contract.