Portuguese Army advances its soldier modernisation effort

The Portuguese Army has given a significant boost to its dismounted soldier system programme SCS (Sistemas de Combate do Soldado) following a EUR42.8 million (USD56.9 million) contract that was awarded by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to FN Herstal in October 2019.

In total 15,000 5.56 × 45 mm SCAR-L STD assault rifles, 940 7.62 × 51 mm SCAR-H STD assault rifles (550 of which incorporate the Trijicon VCOG 1-6 × 24 riflescope and bipod), 1,000 5.56 × 45 mm MINIMI Mk3 Tactical SB and 400 7.62 × 51 mm MINIMI Mk3 Tactical machine guns, and 2,000 40 × 46 mm FN40GL-S stand-alone grenade launchers are being received through 2022, Major Ricardo Jorge Parcelas Araújo e Silva, an area coordinator at the Forces Planning Division, told Janes on 17 March.

Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sights for the SCAR-L STDs and 5.56 x 45 mm MINIMI Mk3s,Trijicon ACOG 3.5 × 35 riflescopes for 7.62 × 51 mm MINIMI Mk3s, Extrema Ratio Fulcrum bayonets, and a ten-year tools and gauges package were part of the contract.

Moreover, 380 Benelli SuperNova TS 12-gauge shotguns and 3,910 Glock G17 Gen5 9 ×19 mm pistols were separately acquired through the NSPA, and received between 2019 and 2021. The shotguns also are used in the counter unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) role.