Turkish troops are to receive the initial batch of the army’s first locally produced assault rifle on Wednesday, a source at the manufacturer said Tuesday.
That was reported by aa.com.tr.
The MPT-76, which is being introduced to replace the German-origin G-3 rifle, will be distributed to 500 soldiers following development by the state-run Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK), a company source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
After the first prototypes were built in 2008 as the Mehmetçik-1 in 5.56×45mm NATO, the rifle received negative feedback from Turkish soldiers testing it who reported that they preferred the 7.62×51mm NATO round which has far greater stopping power and range similar to those of the existing G3 service rifles. The proposed Mehmetcik-1 was therefore cancelled after the first prototype and engineers started the redesign process.
The first batch of 200 MPT-76s were delivered on May 18, 2014 and received positive feedback. The rifle was reported to be extremely accurate, reliable, and outmatched the G3 in all categories. The Turkish Army plans to gradually phase out its G3 and to make the MPT-76 its main service rifle. Azerbaijan plans to produce parts of the rifle in cooperation with Turkey.
Azerbaijan plans to produce parts of the rifle in cooperation with Turkey.