PNP recalls ammo for M203 grenade launchers after failure in Mamasapano clash

THE Philippine National Police has recalled the ammunition for M203 grenade launchers following claims that some of the ammunition used were defective during the January 25 Mamasapano clash.

PNP officer-in-charge, Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, said the ammunition would be decommissioned so that these would no longer be used.

“All will be recalled for decommissioning. We believe that these are not working because these are already very old,” Espina said on Monday.

It may be recalled that following the Mamasapano encounter that left 44 commandos dead, reports surfaced that some of the ammunition of the M203 grenade launchers failed to fire during the clash.

This prompted the Directorate for Logistics to launch an investigation into the ammunition issued to field units, particularly to the Special Action Force and the public safety battalions.

The Directorate for Logistics is also supervising the recall and tests on the M203 grenades.

“We are looking into this claim and in fact doing something about it. We are verifying all of these through our investigation,” Espina said.

The PNP officer in charge has previously floated the theory that the ammunition did not explode because of a safety feature, the arming distance, which means that it won’t go off if the target is very near the one firing the ammunition.

Meanwhile, Espina said the PNP is working on the procurement of new M203 ammunition, as well as automatic grenade launchers for 60 mm and 81 mm mortars. SFM