CONTRACT FOR ARMS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 13

CONTRACT FOR ARMS

‘Justified By Need’ (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, May 15. The United States Army admitted today that it had paid a premium price for a General Motors Ml 6 rifle contract, but insisted that the extra cost was justified to speed the rearming of the South Vietnamese Army. The Assistant Army Secretary (Mr Robert Brooks) defended the contract against charges by Congressman Peter Kyros, a Democrat from Maine, who accused the Army of “making a raid on the Treasury.” Congressman Kyros told the House’s Armed Services Investigating Subcommittee that the General Motors contract totalled SUSS6m ($233 each) for 240,000 rifles, whereas a Maine company had offered to produce similar rifles for SUS2Om.

Mr Brooks testified that the need for the Ml 6 was so urgent that the Army was more interested in speed of delivery than price. The intensified combat in Vietnam last winter, and the decision to equip all South Vietnamese forces with the Ml 6, dictated the need for more rifles immediately.