Sweden has contracted Finnish small arms developer Sako to deliver 22,500 additional Automatkarbin 24 (AK 24) assault rifles for its armed forces.
The order is part of a cooperative framework signed between Sweden and Finland in March 2021 to jointly modernize their firearms in response to the evolving battlefield.
Both countries revealed the initial procurement of the automated carbines in March 2023.
Under the latest contract, the Finnish company will hand the first 7,500 AK 24s to the Swedish warfighters in 2024 and another 15,000 next year.
“The AK 24 is an automatic carbine in caliber 5.56 mm that is adapted for both right- and left-handed shooters,” the country’s defense procurement agency (FMV) said in its press release.
“It is used as personal armament by the soldiers who do not have combat with the automatic carbine as their main task. The AK 24 will be used in all units within the entire Armed Forces.”
The FMV noted that the Swedish military has been preparing to use the rifles since last spring, with over 30,000 rounds spent in shooting tests.
“So far our tests and troop trials have gone well, the weapon fulfills what the supplier promised,” FMV Project Manager Anders Östberg stated.
“But as in all squad trials, details emerge that are difficult to predict and need to be adjusted. The supplier is now fixing these details.”
The Swedish military employs 200 AK 24s for practice and evaluations and another 1,200 for operations.