New Zealand government approves purchase of LMT MARS-L rifles for country's armed forces 20812151.

The new rifles would be issued to the entire New Zealand Defense Force, replacing the Steyr 5.66 mm rifles that were introduced 28 years ago, but have been criticized for being underpowered and performing poorly in certain conditions.

"The LMT is a combat-proven rifle that has seen service in the most arduous conditions," Brownlee said in a statement.

"It gives our personnel a weapon they can rely on in any situation."

The new rifle was the heart of a weapons system that included advanced optical day and night sights, a detachable grenade launcher and other ancillaries such as combat torches, laser sights, and sound suppressors.

The overall system was called the Modular Assault Rifle System-Light (MARS-L).

A request for proposals closed on 12 November 2014, and following an evaluation eight companies were selected for trials that were undertaken between 2 March and 1 June 2015. The trials tested rifles provided by Beretta Defense Technologies (represented by a local branch); Ceska Zbrojovka; Colt Canada Corp; FN Herstal; Steyr Mannlicher; SIG Sauer (represented by New Zealand dealer XTEK Ltd); Heckler & Koch; and LMT.