Pistol, 9mm Striker Fired Acquisition Project (2023) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

A requirement for new 9mm striker fired pistols was raised by the General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines to meet its current, and potentially near-future requirements to equip recently recruited and future military personnel.

This resource page discusses the Pistol, 9mm Striker Fired Acquisition Project of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, specifically the project raised in 2023 to differentiate from an earlier project of the same name raised in 2017.

The SIG Sauer P320 (top) and the Glock 17 Gen 4 9mm pistol (above). Photo credits to Wikipedia and Guns and Ammo Magazine.

Project Summary:

Pistol, 9mm Striker Fired Acquisition Project (2023) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines:

Note: Edited as of 30 December 2023.

* End User: Armed Forces of the Philippines (including all 3 major armed service branches)

* Quantity: 36,000 units

* Modernization Phase: GAA 2023 Funding for GHQ AFP

* Project ABC: Php1,782,000.000.00

* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding

* Source of Funding: GAA 2023 Funds for the General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines

* SARO Release: TBC

* Winning Proponent: TBA

* Product for Delivery: TBC

* Contract Price: TBC

* Residual Difference (Savings): TBC

* First post by MaxDefense: 14 October 2023 (this post)

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PFPPistol9mmStrikerFired2023Acquisition

* Status: Requirement for 36,000 new 9mm Striker Fired Pistols, to be delivered in 2 batches of 18,000 units. Bidding was raised on 30 September 2023 with SOBE tentatively scheduled on 24 October 2023 and moved several times until final SOBE scheduled on 19 December 2023. Bidding declared failure as of 28 December 2023, awaiting for further news.

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Overview:

As the number of military officers and personnel continue to increase within the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the General Headquarters AFP has raised a requirement for 36,000 new 9mm pistols to be distributed to officers and men from GHQ Armed Forces of the Philippines including services units, as well as the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy (including Philippine Marine Corps) and Philippine Air Force.

According to the tender documents, the delivery will be done in two batches of 18,000 units, with the first batch within 90 days from release of Notice to Proceed (NTP), and the 2nd batch within 180 days from release of NTP. If the first bidding attempt succeeds, we estimate that the pistols will all be delivered by 3rd quarter of 2024.

The technical requirements have been released with the following details:

Photos screengrabbed from Bid Documents from DND.

The sheer number of the requirements may include recruited personnel that failed to receive new 9mm striker fired or 45-caliber hammer fired pistols a few years ago, and additional units in anticipation of more recruits and graduates coming in the next 1-2 years.

There is preference on the 9mm Striker Fired Pistol compared to the 45-caliber Hammer Fired Pistols, and this was the same when the AFP originally planned for the acquisition of new pistols back in 2017.

As part of the previous Pistol Acquisition Project, the specifications released was that for 134,681 units of 9mm striker fired pistols, but due to the instructions of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, the AFP divided the acquisition to allow for 45-caliber pistols to be included. Ultimately the AFP awarded contracts to Glock Asia Pacific for 74,681 units of Glock 17 Gen 4 9mm pistols through local supplier Trust Trade, and Armscor Global Defense for their Rock Island Armory TAC Ultra 45-caliber pistols, and a small order as emergency procurement for 1,000 BUL Cherokee 9mm pistols.

The Rock Island Armory TAC Ultra 45-cal pistol (top) and the Glock 17 Gen 4 9mm pistol (above), both with the AFP logo to show ownership by the AFP over these pistols. Photo credits to PTV4 News and AFP Reserve Command.

The BUL Cherokee 9mm pistol from Israel. Credits to original source of photo.

Based on the bidding results from the previous Pistol 9mm Striker Fired Acquisition Project of 2017, Trust Trade-Glock Asia Pacific competed against CZ USA, Intrade Asia Pacific (local supplier of SIG Sauer), Precision Munitions (local supplier, unknown offer). There is a possibility that the same would happen, and probably other suppliers might also submit their bids and take interest in the project.

But while we believe Glock might have an edge in this procurement since the Glock 17 is currently the standard and most widely-used 9mm striker-fired pistol in the AFP, this might not be the case for this project.

Take note of the technical specifications - it requires for the 9mm pistol to have either an aluminium or carbon steel lower receiver frame. Glock is famous for using polymer material for its frames including the lower receiver. Which means that Glock may be disqualified from participating in this tender for not meeting this requirement.

Other manufacturers have different variants of 9mm striker fired pistols that either use polymer or carbon steel frames like the SIG Sauer P320, which could have advantage in this tender.

The recent wins of SIG Sauer in the Philippine Army's firearms procurement could be an indication that they could be poised to win this tender, unless if the specifications were written that would allow other cheaper competitors to bag the project.

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U P D A T E S:
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30 December 2023:

The DND has confirmed that the project bidding was declared a failure as of 19 December 2023, although no reason has been announced.

It remains to be seen if the project will restart bidding by 2024.

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First edit and release: 14 October 2023
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource.