Zarvan
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It has come to light that the Bangladesh Police has been supplied with 2,500 9x19mm Taurus SMT9C submachine guns. Official deliveries apparently took place at the force’s headquarters in Dhaka in December, 2016, being followed by introductory courses to local instructors by personnel of the Brazilian manufacturer. The weapons are believed to be in service by now. Curiously enough, the featured TFB image above was posted in a local Bangladesh Facebook page as early as March 19, 2015 showing the guns in the hands of that country’s Special Security and Protection Battalion (SPBN), a comment saying they had been delivered “about couple of months ago”.
Bangladesh Police members with the SMT9C. (Image source: bdmilitary.com)
But, it was only recently (February 6) that Forjas Taurus officially announced the deal in a short press release, referring to the guns as ”SMT9” models. However, examination of a few third-party photos available show that the weapons are, in fact, of the SMT9C variant, with a 165mm barrel (200mm, in the standard SMT9) with no flash hider. It has also become clear that the weapons were delivered with the original Taurus massive iron sight structures, but later fitted with an AR-style rear sight plus a different front sight. Also, the guns received a standard model polymer side-folding stock (originally, the “C” was stockless).
In the same recent press release, the manufacturer states that other SMT9 sales have been made to Bosnia, India, and China (!).
Photos taken during an indoor introduction class for the Brazilian subguns to Bangladesh police officers show the original sights fitted, plus the foldable polymer stocks.
The Taurus SMT9C as now in reported use by the Bangladesh Police.
Comparative view of a standard SMT9 in Brazilian Army Airborne Brigade service fitted with a red dot sight and a forward grip/flashlight unit. The red cap indicates operator to be a Pathfinder.
POST UPDATE: TFB has now learned that the M4 carry handle-fitted SMT9Cs were about 500 examples delivered in 2015, while the 2,500 guns delivered in December, 2016, had (and kept) the standard sights.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/03/03/bangladesh-police-taurus-smgs/
