Latvia’s National Guard receives G36 rifles
The Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) have transferred G36 assault rifles and KSP-58 machine guns to the State Border Guard, the Latvian Ministry of Defence announced on 24 May.
The National Guard is incorporated into the NAF during times of conflict; and during peacetime, the guard conducts joint training and crisis response coordination with the armed forces.
As a result, Latvia is carrying out a programme to standardise weapons across both the regular forces and National Guard. All units of regular forces are equipped with G36 rifles, and the weapon is now being rolled out across National Guard units to replace the Ak-4 assault rifle.
The procurement of G36 rifles in 2006 also initiated transition to NATO ammunition calibre standards. The aim of the modernisation is to ensure that soldiers can efficiently engage in different operations, on different terrains and against different vehicles, light armoured vehicles and fortifications, regardless of the time of day, climatic conditions and visibility.
Defence Minister Raimonds Bergmanis, said: ‘Defence and interior sectors are cooperating not only because the government requires to do so, our cooperation is also an excellent example of close cross-sector cooperation on common security and defence development goals.
‘Better cross-sector cooperation will only make Latvia stronger and safer. And that is what government aims to achieve.’
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
![Estonian Army receives first 50 of 230 light armoured vehicles]()
Estonian Army receives first 50 of 230 light armoured vehicles
The armoured vehicles are fitted with 12.7mm heavy machine guns and came off the production line with specific Estonian requirements. Only the communications subsystems and some other minor equipment were added to vehicles in Estonia.
-
![Thales to supply 500 of its new Vehicle Mounted SquadNet Radios to a NATO country]()
Thales to supply 500 of its new Vehicle Mounted SquadNet Radios to a NATO country
The newly disclosed Thales UK Vehicle Mounted SquadNet Radio (VMSR) offers full interoperability with the soldier radio variant to provide secure and reliable voice connection.
-
![Modern militaries crawl towards electrification of the battlefield]()
Modern militaries crawl towards electrification of the battlefield
Full electrification of their land and air vehicles may be beyond modern militaries for now. But how close are they to the tipping point of the widespread use of electric vehicles?
-
![Pearson Engineering to supply mine ploughs and dozer blades for Polish Abrams tanks]()
Pearson Engineering to supply mine ploughs and dozer blades for Polish Abrams tanks
The contract follows news released in 2023 that a first customer had taken into service Pearson Engineering’s new Slice system enabling the interoperability of Front-End Equipment (FEE) between main battle tanks and dedicated engineering vehicles.
-
![Aselsan successfully tests Gökberk system against FPV drones]()
Aselsan successfully tests Gökberk system against FPV drones
The system had been previously proven to work against rotary and fixed-wing kamikaze drones, with Aselsan now working on new capabilities for Gökberk to counter UAV swarms.
