Gardone Val Trompia, 12 December 2020 - Pietro Beretta Weapons Factory has been awarded the tender announced by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice (Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública - SENASP) for the purchase of up to 159.000 pistols in 9 × 19 caliber that will go to equip the units of the National Public Security Force (Forca Nacional de Seguranca Publica) and other law enforcement agencies of several Brazilian states.
The competition saw the participation of the main international players, and was very fierce on both the technical and economic fronts. At the end of a rigorous evaluation and various field test sessions conducted by the Brazilian authorities with great professionalism, the Italian system has demonstrated its effectiveness, with the active support of the Italian Embassy in Brazil, and in particular of His Excellency the Ambassador Francesco Azzarello.
The gun selected is the Beretta APX percussion, which is increasingly establishing itself as a reference product and is currently also in the running to equip the NYPD. The APX is, in fact, one of the safest and most modern platforms on the market: thanks to the ambidextrous controls, the high ergonomics and the modular design it is well suited to different user morphologies and combines the most innovative functions with the legendary reliability that gives always distinguishes the weapons of the Gardonese company in every operational context. The framework contract signed with the Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública - SENASP can reach up to 57 million euros and has a maximum duration of 18 months. All guns will be made in Gardone Val Trompia.
“We are very satisfied with this result, which has come at the end of a certainly complex year - declares Franco Gussalli Beretta, President of Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta SpA - Our company already boasts a past in Brazil. In 1948 my great-uncles chose that country to start the industrial internationalization of the Group and in Brasilia they built the first foreign production plant under the Beretta do Brasil banner. There we produced pistols until the 70s when we decided to sell plants and licenses to Taurus and move to the United States by founding Beretta USA.
The tender awarded today has a double meaning for us: it is an important confirmation of the validity of the product platform and is at the same time a recognition for the great work of the internal Beretta team, which has continued to operate with the usual professionalism even in the difficult context of past months. I would particularly like to thank all my collaborators who have contributed to this result, and the institutions that have been at our side ”.