A company relocating to eastern Iowa has announced they have secured a $25 million contract to produce rifles for Estonian Defence Forces. Lewis Machine and Tool, LMT Defense, will be producing 16,000 rifles for Estonia, which is located next to the Baltic Sea and Russia.

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The rifles and ancillaries must be delivered by 2021 with an additional order possible for delivery in 2026. The $25 million order represents the second largest in the company's history. A $30 million contract was signed with the United Kingdom ten years ago.

The company has been located in Milan, Illinois but will be moving to a larger plant in Eldridge, Iowa, in Scott County, this spring. All 16,000 rifles, the company's largest single order of a weapon in history, will be produced at the Eldridge plant.

According to their website, Lewis Machine and Tool was

founded in 1980 to provide the U.S. military, law enforcement, and government agencies with precision engineered, high quality weapons, components and modular weapons systems.

Lewis Machine and Tool Sales and Marketing Director, Matt Pruitt, told the Quad-City Times,

This is our first time in Estonia. As a company, we are in 45 countries in the world.

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