@SQ8 @Bilal Khan (Quwa)
Does either of you know when PMTF added CNC machine centres to its portfolio? Can these machines be used to upgrade POF and produce local and foreign small arms and light weapons? If so, why does POF's Salman Ali keep reminding us that producing a foreign design would require importing machinery?
Also, has PMTF sold these to private or public industries?
Link to the relevant webpage:
pmtfl.com
tbh, we lack info and there's no transparency about how POF operates or makes its decisions.
IMO, it just seems that Salman Ali does his thing while GHQ drafts its own plans. I think the PA will eventually sign onto a foreign rifle. They haven't gotten to that point yet because (1) it's expensive and (2) there are other funding priorities.
However, the cost of reworking POF to produce a new rifle and the cost of re-arming the Army are two separate issues. The former is a manageable overhead and the latter is a long-term endeavor that will take several decades.
The infamous 2015-2016 tender was proof that the PA was interested in a foreign design. IMO, they still are, despite POF's ongoing projects. POF isn't moving the needle with any of our top decision-makers and, IMO, the reasons why the PA didn't pick a new rifle yet have nothing to do with the G-3, POF, or Salman Ali. That time just hasn't come, but it will, eventually, and I don't think any POF design will be in the running.