Aquila International, LLC, a US Defense contractor, have announced that they will provide Daniel Defense rifles to various Argentine military organisations. Aquila are the South American distributors for Daniel Defense and have been awarded contracts to supply the company’s M4A1, MK18 and DD5V3 and D4 rifles to elements of the Argentine Marines, Gendarmerie and Army Special Forces.

Argentine Marines visit Daniel Defense (Aquila International)

Representatives from the Argentine military visited the factory in 2019 with the visit detailed in an article in Daniel Defense’s 2020 catalog. To date, Argentine procurements have include 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm rifles with the Comandos Anfibios selecting the MK18 while Argentine Army SF have also selected a DD5V4-EA for a role similar to the US Army’s M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System.

Argentine Marine representatives during their visit to Daniel Defense (Aquila International)

Here’s what Aquila International have to say about their work with the Argentine military:

Last week, the Argentine Army received their DDM4A1-EA (Ejercito Argentino) destined to the Army Special Forces. This is a special variation of the Daniel Defense M4A1 to meet the Argentine Army specifications, and includes a ALG full-auto trigger group, a SOCOM profile 14.5 barrel, a newly developed DD Wave QD Flash-hider, and ambi controls. The rifles are shipped with MAGPUL MBUS PRO, vertical forward grip, MAGPUL PMAG Gen 3 magazines, DD Wave suppressors, Trijicon ACOG LED 3.5×35 scopes, Blue Force Gear Vickers Slings and sling sleeves, PROSHOT cleaning kits and Capewell Aerial Systems’ MAWC cases. All rifles have the Argentine Army Coat of Arms engraved on the Lower Receiver.

In addition to the M4A1s, the Argentine Army also received their DD5V4-EA rifles. In November 2019, Daniel Defense was selected to provide a SASS-type rifle chambered in 7.62×51 NATO. This unique DD5V4-EA features a 18 inch barrel, full ambi controls, a Geiselle G2S trigger, and a DD Wave QD/Flash hider. They are delivered as a complete CSASS Weapon System and include a Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18×44 TMR Iluminated scope, a Leupold Mark IMS mount, Magpuls MBUS PRO sights, Magpul bipod, and Magpul 20-rd and 10-rd PMAGs, BFG’s Vickers slings, sling slevees, and pouches, Kestrel 5700, Bushnell Elite Rangfinders, Leupold Mark 4 Spotting Scopes, MILDOT Masters, PROSHOT cleaning kits, Real Avid AR tools, Magneto Speed MILSPEC cased chronographs, Armaggeddon CSASS cases and suppressors sleeves, Eberlestock scope & crown protectors, and SKB hard cases. All rifles have the Argentine Army Coat of Arms engraved on the Lower Receiver.

Prior to this Army adoption, in November 2019, the Argentine National Gendarmerie SF Team “Alacran” adopted the DDMK18, M4A1 and DD5V3 rifles. The MK18s were delivered with a full set of accessories, including Trijicon MROs and Eotech magnifiers, DD Wave suppressors, Steiner Lasers, Surefire X-300 flashlights, Blue Force Gear slings MAGPUL MBUS, Capewell’s MAWCs, and a soft case (BH!) and hard case (Pelican) combination. The M4A1s feature a Trijicon ACOG LED 3.5×35 and the DD5V3s have NF ATACR 1-8 scopes.

Going back to 2017, the Marines were actually the service that paved the way for Daniel Defense in Argentina. That year, the Marine SF forces selected the MK18/MRO and the M4A1/ACOG (RCO M4 USMC model), all of them with DD Wave suppressors (more details is the attached note from the DD catalog). After this initial buy, an upgrade program was started to upgrade M16A2 to M4A1/ACOG-RCO M4 USMC configuration. The Marine Infantry Battalion 2 (BIM2) was the first regular unit that deployed with the upgraded rifles last year to the UNITAS Multinational amphibious exercise. In addition to that, in 2020 the Marines received a few Heavy-Barrel M27-Type DDM4 rifles with Trijicon SDO scopes to evaluate as a partial replacement of their M249s.