Turkey to mass produce local-made MPT-76 rifles

Turkey is aiming at producing 200,000 of the first locally-produced infantry service rifles called the MPT-76 with a capacity to fire 700 bullets per minute.

Defense Industry Undersecretary İsmail Demir said 500 MPT-76s were already distributed to the Turkish army and around 19,500 more will be distributed soon.

"The delivery will be conducted gradually as every party will conclude 2,000 weapons," he said.

Demir also mentioned plans for Turkey to mass produce the gun, with the intention of selling them to other parties.

"We have a big range of projects including tanks, various land vehicles, electronic warfare devices, radar ... rocket, intelligent ammunition, explosive destruction systems, sea, land and air systems," the Defense Industry official added.

The MPT-76 project was initiated at Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation's (MKEK) mass production facilities in central Kırıkkale province of Turkey.

The rifle's efficient range is indicated to be up to 600 meters.

The rifle will be used by the Turkish military, which has also utilized German-made G-3 rifles and Russian-made AK-47s.

The rifle was finalized on May 5, 2014 after the MPT-76 successfully completed over 50 test rounds.