Faults with army weapons minimal: Chief

Faults with army weapons minimal: Chief

Tuesday Aug 28 09:26 AEST

The system used to check systemic weaknesses or faults with the weapons issued to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is effective, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, says.

The Seven Network obtained documents on Monday that revealed the Austeyr rifles used by the ADF in Iraq and Afghanistan have had persistent problems with locking, jamming, misfiring and faulty springs.

Lieutenant General Leahy said over a two-year period the number of faults associated with the Austeyr rifles were minimal and considered part of the normal repair and maintenance regime.

"We have acknowledged that there are some issues with Austeyr rifles related to 14 replacement springs over thousands of weapons that have been in the field over those two years," Lieutenant General Leahy told ABC radio.

I think that's within pretty normal operational and repair regimes."
Seven reported commanders had recommended that Special Air Service troops stop using high-powered pistols because they were unreliable and special forces troops had been sent machine-guns which were cracked or broken and grenade launchers which fell apart.

Lieutenant General Leahy said the only problem associated with the grenade launchers was the mounting system currently being corrected.

"These (grenade launchers) are relatively new weapons they need to be fitted to our vehicles and the problem is with the mounts ... because we are able to acquire these weapons so quickly they don't always fit the types of vehicles that we've got," he said.

"We are working to make sure we get it better, we're talking about improvements on improvements."

Lieutenant General Leahy said the reports by Seven had been "sensationalised".

"It's unacceptable that Channel Seven have reported like this ...what we've got is sensationalist reports they have sensationalised a whole range of issues.

"I'm not going to say that there isn't a problem, we can't achieve perfection but what I'm saying ... is that we've got a very good weapons system.

"What we need to be doing is making sure that the equipment we provide ourselves in the field is the best that we can make it and I think we have a robust system to do that."


©AAP 2007

[Tony Smith]

Well, I have to say "WHAT A MEDIA BEAT-UP!" Ok,sure there are likely to be some failures with a limited number of weapons in a theatre of war, but to read Ch Seven's original report where they claim "Up to 70,000" Austeyrs are defective is just a crock. Don't forget that the Austeyr is approaching 20 years old (F88), and the Browing Hi-Powers could be 60 years old, but these weapons are in tip-top condition when sent O/S. Meticulous cleaning and maintenance is essential for any weapon in a dusty/sandy environment, as is thorough and regular IA training for the Rifleman. Should some element of this be overlooked, you don't go blaming the weapon system.