'File 21/7 Arms and Ammunition for the Shaikh of Qatar: Machine Guns for Shaikh of Qatar' [‎125r] (249/320)

y
^.(SA 1195/2)
HI OFF« JR, . .1.
Uth April, 1950.
KSSTRICTED
I 9m sorry that we have no^. been able to write to
you earlier about the supply of rifles and ammunition for
the Gulf States. In our letter T o. ftA 1195/1 of the lUth
February we promised to let you know the result of our
enquiries to the ar Office. fou will have seen from our
telegram No. ^2h that supplies of the No. 1 rifle are
unfortunately no longer available. This was the type of
rifle for which a quotation was given in Rogers 1 letter No.
ft U219/1196/91 of the 29th April, 19^U9, and ar Office regret
that existing stocks are now needed to meet a new General
Staff Requirement.
,e i sked the ar Office whether* they could supply any
other type of rifle at a comparable price. They tell us
however that even if this were possible the types in question
would be obsolescent and there might be difficulty in
providing spare parts. *'e agree with their view therefore,
that it would be preieroole not to pursue the iaea.
Since A.H. 'itchell Limited have supplied the sheikh
of Umm al ^awain and will probably supply the Sheikh of Ras
al Khaimah, there remain only the requirements of the Sheikhs
of Kuwait and Qatar for 1000 rifles and 1U25 rifles
respectively. Unless there is any prospect that they can
obtain No. 1 rifles in these ouantities from an agent (which
is very unlikely in view of the ;ar Office requirement), the
only alternative seems to be for them to purchase the more
expensive and -’ore up-to-date No. U rifle. Ae know that
supplies of this type are immediately available.
e have obtained a notation for the No. k rifle from
the ministry of Supply. The basic cost of 10;; rifles with
appropriate spare parts would be £114,71h 10s. 11d. To this
must be added 10K for Departmental Expenses and J \% for Inland
Transport, making a total of approximately £16,336. There
would also be the cost of packing and freight which could be
calculated very roughly at 5/ of the basic total.
vVe understand that the Sheikh of Kuwait’s requirement of
ammunition is 1 million rounds, i.e. 1000 rounds per rifle.
The Sheikh of ^atar originally ordered 750,000 rounds, but
since you have supplied 50,000 (vide your telegram No. 396 of
27th ugust, and 7,500 were supplied by General
Headquarters, Middle ftast Land Forces last September, we assume
that this order is now reduced to 692,500 rounae. The basic
cost of 1 million rounds would be £13,750, to which would
have to be added 10^, for Departmental Expenses and 1 for
Inland Transport, making a total of approximately £15,3 d 1.
lacking and freight would again be an extra charge.
Ministry of Supply require a sales agreement to be signed
and an advance payment to be made of oG/. of the basic cost.
For 1000 rifles this advance payment would be £12,9^0 and for 1
/million
Lieutenant-Colonel
fir Rupert Hay, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.,
Bahrein.
p. /qo