BUDIMIR: PROUD OF SNIPER RIFLE AND LOCAL EXPERTISE

BANJA LUKA, JULY 30 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Interior Minister Željko Budimir says he is proud that the Interior Ministry, in cooperation with the Kosmos Company, has successfully developed a bolt-action sniper rifle, adding that 20 units had already been ordered for the Gendarmerie.

Budimir said the project had demonstrated the capability to produce such a sophisticated and complex firearm. "It is very important that this weapon was developed using local expertise," Budimir told the press at the shooting range of the Training Centre in Zalužani, where the sniper rifle prototype was presented today. Budimir noted that the two sniper rifle prototypes had shown performance comparable to leading international brands, i.e. to any system currently used by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and the Gendarmerie of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry. "This is a system that demonstrated a high level of accuracy today, and I am confident it will meet the operational requirements that the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior, as the end user, set for the Kosmos Company," Budimir said. Budimir said that, following the initial order for the Gendarmerie, additional systems would be procured, noting that the Republika Srpska MoI also purchases well-known branded systems. "This rifle certainly has commercial potential as well, which is something the Kosmos Company should be considering," Budimir concluded.