Eurosatory 2014: MKEK delivers first MPT-76 rifles to Turkey
Turkey's Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu - MKEK) has completed deliveries of an initial 200 MPT-76 battle rifles to the Turkish Army for testing and evaluation, the company told
IHS Jane's at Eurosatory 2014 in Paris, France, on 17 June.
The new 7.62 mm chambered rifle is intended to become the Turkish Armed Forces' new standard infantry weapon, and has been developed under contract from the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (Savunma Sanayii Müstesarligi - SSM) for the Turkish Army, which favours the 7.62 mm NATO round over the smaller 5.56 mm round.
An initial delivery to the Turkish Armed Forces of a first test and evaluation batch of 200 units was completed in June, a company spokesperson told
IHS Jane's . This delivery followed on from the completion of design qualification tests at the end of 2013, and the company is expecting to complete production line qualification within the next few months.
Following feedback from the Turkish Armed Forces on the performance of the weapon in testing, the MKEK will modify the design of the rifle and then deliver a further 5,000 units for a second round of more general testing and evaluation across the Turkish Armed Forces. The spokesperson stated he expected the deliveries of the second batch of rifles would occur towards the end of this year.
The Turkish Armed Forces has a potential requirement for as many as 500,000 MPT-76's, principally for the Turkish Army, but also to equip personnel across its other service arms.
A decision on whether to fully adopt the MPT-76 as the Turkish Armed Forces' new service rifle (replacing the H&K G3 and G33) will be made by the Turkish Armed Forces and the Executive Committee (EC) of the SSM. The company is hopeful that a positive decision for full-scale production will be made by the EC in 2015. Currently MKEK has only the capability to produce 15,000 weapons a year, so it may need to expand its production facilities or license production to partners should a full-scale production order be received from Turkey.
Milli Piyade Tüfegi (MPT) means national infantry rifle in Turkish, and the company is keen to flag up that this has been the first automatic weapon that the company has indigenously designed. Although MKEK has long produced weapons for the Turkish Armed Forces, historically they have been created under license from German manufacturer Heckler & Koch (HK).
Like many modern infantry weapons, the MPT-76 is based on the AR-10/15 design, but features a short-stroke gas-piston system similar to that found in the HK417. The rifle does, however, feature several differences to the HK417, with the piston system being designed without a spring and ring, and the rotating bolt features a single ejector to the HK417's two.
The MPT-76 features a 406 mm (16 inches) cold hammer forged barrel free floating with a 1:10 right hand twist. The upper and lower receivers of the weapon are firmed of milled aluminium, with the upper receiver featuring a full-length MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail and for the Turkish requirement the weapon is fitted with a distinctive carrying handle and a folding front and rear sight. Rails can also be installed on the bottom and sides of the weapon, which was displayed featuring an integrated angled grip, and a vertical grip / retractable bipod.
The total weapon length is 900 mm (when the 12-point retractable buttstock is in the shortest position) and the weapon weighs 4.18 kg.
Eurosatory 2014: MKEK delivers first MPT-76 rifles to Turkey - IHS Jane's 360