Firm wins £9 million pistol contract to supply armed forces (From York Press)
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email»
Firm wins £9 million pistol contract to supply armed forces
7:46am Saturday 12th January 2013 in Business news
SOLDIERS in Afghanistan will be among the first to use a new type of pistol that has been developed in Harrogate.
More than 25,000 new Glock pistols and holsters will be supplied by gun wholesaler Viking Arms Ltd, based at New York Industrial Estate, in Summerbridge, near Harrogate, to personnel in all three armed forces.
The business has won a £9 million contract from the Ministry of Defence to replace the currently used Browning model of pistol, which has been used for more than 40 years but is said to have become increasingly expensive to maintain.
The Glock 17 Gen 4, which is manufactured in Austria, is lighter, more accurate and capable of carrying more bullets, with a magazine capacity of 17 nine-milimetre rounds, compared to 13 for the Browning.
People across all three services will start receiving the new Glock 17s in the coming weeks and troops deployed to Afghanistan will be among the first to use them.
