Posted on 04/06/2006 2:05:02 PM PDT by managusta
April 6, 2006: After receiving initial deliveries of Russian AK-103 assault rifles, the Venezuelans quickly discovered that some of the weapons are not new, but older models "remanufactured" to newer standards.
As a result, they have suspended the contract (for 100,000 rifles). The Russians have long pulled stunts like this, and have acquired a shady reputation as a result.
Even some of their major customers, like India, get hit, and come back with lawsuits and cancellations and renegotiations. Apparently the Russian arms industry can't resist any opportunity to put one over on a customer.
These scams often work, but when they don't, the blowback is ugly. In this case, the Russians may believe that that Venezuelan president Chavez has alienated too many other weapons suppliers, and will tolerate some Russian skullduggery.
Apparently the Russians missed all the Chinese arms merchants visiting Venezuela lately.
The Chinese will pull the same stunt...
Take Hugo to a gun show.
And Chinese weapons (At least the ones they sell) are crap.
Heh heh, wonder if any of Iran's "top secret" weapons are Russian lemons.
Could this also be the North Korean AK-47's...
AK 103's can be made from AKM recievers.
Price does not equal cost.
Paaaahahahahahahahah! Hey Chavez, did you save your receipts? You want good quality weapons when we invade you, don't you?
Could be just a screw up in shipments.
lol....
Right. The rebuilds were supposed to go to the Cubans.
See post 9. Someone swapped out the good AK-103 recievers.
However, the contract for Venezuela to build AK-103's is still on.
Shop at a Russian yard sale, you get Russian quality.
Another thing is that this may be disinformation by the Venezuelans and Russians to dissuade fear of the arms shipment.
I recall Somali militiamen had a slogan: "an old bullet hurts as much as a new one."
Maybe the Russians could use them to sell their weapons.
What's not to like about this situation?
With all the horrible news lately, this one does merit a smile.
Price does not equal value.
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