FERFRANS History

FERFRANS started in 1998 developing specialized equipment for law enforcement and military.  Although all products were manufactured or sourced in the United States, it was the operational requirements of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) and specialized military units in the United States that motivated FERFRANS to design and develop its products.

The challenges of the PNP-SAF during that time and in the present became very complex.  They have to deal with multiple  threats from,   the communist New Peoples Army,  the muslim insurgents (MILF and MNLF),  terrorist groups (Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah), and organize  crime.  Also, in this day and age of Terrorism, the line between conventional and unconventional warfare has diminished as well as the grey line between military and law enforcement operations.  Special operating units in urban centers today, conducting hostage rescue will be the same troops that will battle insurgents in the jungles tomorrow.  Unconventional warfare has evolved to irregular warfare so a new breed of warriors are created and together with it a new weapon system.

FERFRANS developed the Special Operations Assault Rifle (SOAR) to answer the operational requirements of specialized operating units then, now and in the future .  Due largely to the limited resources of the Philippines, abundance of the M16A1 rifles in the inventory and troop familiarity, it was advantageous to use the M16A1 as a platform for modification.  The FERFRANS SOAR incorporates modifications and improvements to the M16A1, A2, M4 that will among other things, ensure enhanced reliability, accuracy, firepower, ergonomics / man machine interface, a reduced cyclic rate, parts longevity and increased service life.  The objective of the SOAR, among others, is to increase effective firepower as a force multiplier.  This was achieved with the proprietary rate reduction system/ independent sear disconnector that reduced the rate of automatic fire by 200 to 250 rounds per minute.  The operator has full control of the weapon in full auto fire, increasing accuracy and firepower.

As early as 2008, the SOAR-P was developed to answer the need for “over the beach” operations.  Several models were also developed and put into production, PDW, Mid-length carbines, and the HVLAR.  The latest addition is the Special Operations Adaptive Combat Rifle.

Due to the relationship that FERFRANS has with its customers, operational requirements are discussed beyond  weapon systems, therefore in an effort to support the law enforcement and military operators FERFRANS supplies  among other products, specialized communication equipment, ballistic vest, tactical gear, ammunition, optical sights, scopes, night vision equipment, suppressors  and other specialized equipment requested by the customer.  FERFRANS also provides custom products that will meet customer’s need.  In the year 2006, FERFRANS was awarded the contract to refurbish the M14’s rifles  that were out of commission and refurbished almost a thousand M16A1s that were decommissioned and ready for destruction.  This UC contract is to upgrade and convert the M16A1 that were not functional to specialized M4’s.

FERFRANS supports its products  by a program.  When an order is delivered to a law enforcement and military unit, together with it includes;  Service, Training, Equipment, Product, Support (STEPS PROGRAM).  In line with the STEPS program FERFRANS built a service center in Cebu, Philippines to support Asia.

The future of FERFRANS is to complete the circle around the customer by satisfying all its equipment needs and to circle the globe.  FERFRANS believes that a true warrior will be victorious because of his training, confidence in his weapon and the warrior spirit.