Indo Defense

In what has to be one of the more obvious Chinese reproductions of foreign products this year, we introduce the Shenzhen Bewin Video Electronic Co, Ltd’s “Digital Individual Combat System”. The helmet/body mounted camera system is a painfully obvious and direct copy of the MOHOC company that first introduced their system at SHOT 2016. In 2017 they made a number of upgrades and really remain the only alternative to commercial action cameras when it comes to using them in a Military/Law Enforcement environment.

Profense has been shaking the Minigun game up since introducing their competitor to Dillon Aero’s domination of the international market in 7.62x51mm NATO M134 Minigun platforms manufactured in the United States. Taking things up (or down) a notch, Profense introduced a 5.56x45mm NATO variant of their 7.62x51mm NATO M134 while at AUSA in April this year. A 5.56x45mm version of the Minigun has historically been done before, with the XM214 “Microgun” from General Electric during the Vietnam War. However, the 5.56x45mm cartridge was too inaccurate for fast-moving vehicles such as aircraft and the U.S. Army wasn’t interested in the project as an infantry portable HMG. Fast forward to today and the increasing use of special operations forces combined with small craft such as speedboats and all-terrain vehicles, having a Minigun that takes up less space and weight and is needed for suppressive fire at shorter ranges, a 5.56x45mm NATO Minigun might have some merit.

The JMK  Bora-12 (or JNG-90) isn’t exactly new or groundbreaking as the Turkish state-owned arms company MKEK has been working on it since 2004. However what is new is the configuration that we saw at Indo Defense 2018. Essentially updating the design, the Bora-12 is going to start to see wider use in the Turkish Land Forces. More than a hundred rifles have been ordered for service with Turkish soldiers.

Steel Core Designs had on display one of their latest additions to their precision rifle product line, the Hurricane SF, based off of their Hurricane Hunter/Varmint rifles. The rifle is intended to be their short action variant, while the Thunderbolt rifle is their long action chambered in .338 Lapua, and the Cyclone being the anti-materiel rifle variant chambered in .50 BMG. All of their rifles are minimalist and simplistic in nature, constructed out of a solid metal chassis with Picatinny rail segments for the attachment of optics and laser designators. Their rifles use a 4-lug bolt that is simply scaled up or down for use in the different calibers offered for the Hurricane, Thunderbolt, and Cyclone rifles. One design feature of the bolt is that the ejector does not incorporate a spring in it, being actuated by a pin in the receiver as the bolt completes its rearward travel. This allows a shooter to slowly work the bolt, allowing the empty shell to drop out of the rifle’s ejection port, or if the bolt is rapidly racked, the ejector will kick the shell out quickly.

What captivated many visitors to Indo Defense 2018 this year from Pindad was the defense companies Harimau Modern Medium Weight tank that was a product of a joint venture with a Turkish defense company. However when it comes to small arms, Pindad had some new offerings as well, some that we should be seeing within Indonesian military service soon enough.

Introduced in March of this year, we were able to get our hands on Rheinmetall Air Defense AG’s ILEE® TwinBeam Mk2 visible/IR laser designator. The TwinBeam Mk2 is actually just one such designator out of a large product line of similar designators that fill different capabilities and needs. Many of the small arms laser designators are capable of being mounted on an M1913 Picatinny rail and are very similar in controls and materials used in construction.

The Canadian-based division of Rheinmetall was present at the show with the latest variant of their Field Ranger RCWS system that is designed to accommodate 7.62x51mm FN MAG/.50 BMG M2/ and 40x53mm Mark 19 grenade launchers and machine guns. On display was the “Multi” system, but there are also “Light” versions (7.62x51mm only), “Dual” (designed to take both a GPMG and a Heavy MG), and the “20” designed for a 20mm cannon. Not on display was the “Rapid Obscuring System” (ROSY) which consists of a smoke grenade discharging system mounted below the weapon system. The system has been purchased and has been in active service for around two years with Rheinmetall clients around the world.

On top of a large number of Corner Shot clones already on the market, the Indonesian Army’s research and development division Kodiklatad Polytechnic was displaying their own prototype clone at their booth during Indo Defense 2018. According to an Indonesian source, the Army’s special operations teams liked the foreign made versions enough that there was an operational requirement for a domestically produced Corner Shot, especially for one that could fit the G2 Combat and G2 Elite handguns from state-owned arms company Pindad Defense (in addition to a variant for Glock models). Some of the specifications for the Kodiklatad Polytechnic Corner Shot have been previously listed in an Indonesian article–

Italian handgun company Tanfoglio had their 9x19mm TCMP submachine gun with them at the Tanfoglio booth during Indo Defense 2018. We reported on the TCMP in 2016 when the company was showing the TCMP at the IWA Show, but since then TFB hasn’t heard too much about the design since then. At Indo Defense we were able to talk through the submachine with the president of the company, Massimo Tanfoglio.

In our previous coverage of modern Vietnamese small arms development on display at Indo Defense 2018 we spent some time looking at locally produced M79’s, Lee Enfield No.4’s, a rotary grenade launcher, and even a 9x19mm Bizon! In this post we’ll be looking at some of the other developments that we weren’t able to fit in the first one.

One of the biggest buzzes during the show was the booth from Vietnamese Defence Industries (VDI). This was the first such appearance of the Vietnamese delegation to any major trade show outside of Vietnam with the amount of materiel that was being presented to the public. Vietnam has slowly been building up a small arms production capability for the past decade, taking on serious collaboration with IWI Defense from Israel in addition to what might be some defense collaboration with Russia over technical data packages. Examples of this can be seen in being licensed to produce the 7.62x39mm Galil Ace rifle domestically in 2014 and even the bolt action 12.7mm KSVK anti-materiel rifle as well. Although few of these designs are indigenous to Vietnam and are instead foreign variants being license produced by companies within state-owned VDI, the ability of the country to be outputting small arms is still very significant and should be paid attention to. One piece of the puzzle that we don’t know yet (and asked the booth reps), is how much of each weapon system was actually produced from raw materials in Vietnam and how much was brought in from the original manufacturer. In some cases with developing countries, the most difficult or costly components are imported while the rest of the firearm is actually made in the country. One example of this is the barrel, which can be extremely difficult to manufacture precisely on an industrial basis.

Apart from the standard 5.56x45mm AR15-derivatives and MPT76 service rifles on display, Kale Kalip had two new product entries that were being exhibited for Indo Defense 2018. The first is the .50 BMG KSR50, which appears to be a license produced or at least Kale Kalip-marked variant of the Accuracy International AX50. The rifle comes equipped with AI-marked magazines and was observed with a Schmidt & Bender optic. Images of this AX50/KSR50 in service with Turkish Law Enforcement forces first came out in October of 2017(more about Turkish precision rifles can be found here). Other images since then have shown the rifle with magazines in a tan finish instead of the black finish that was observed at the show.

ATA Arms might be one Turkish company to keep an eye out for in 2019 as the company is greatly expanding into a number of areas. Present at Indo Defense 2018 was their new ASR rifle and ATA 1955 semiautomatic 12 Gauge shotgun. Not at the show but currently in their R&D process is a multi-caliber rifle, a semiautomatic polymer handgun.

The Istanbul based ATA Arms brought out their 40x46mm BA40 standalone and UBGL grenade launcher to the show in Indo Defence 2018 this year. The launcher is the first such design from ATA Arms, which actually won a major contract this year for 8,000 launchers from the Turkish Land Forces. Another Turkish company MERTSAV completed a design that appears to have been for the launcher competition as well, known as the TAR-40.

Australian-based Marathon Targets has been quietly changing the scene in the past several years when it comes to making live fire ranges much more realistic and dynamic by using autonomous moving target systems. The systems are starting to see use all around the world, from the Marine Corps in the United States, Australian infantry marksmanship programs, and even are expanding into the Middle East with some of the Gulf countries.

At Indo Defense 2018 this year we at TFB were able to get a hands-on examination of MKE’s KNT-76 Designated Marksman Rifle. The rifle is an upgraded MPT-76 service rifle that has a number of additional design features to increase its accuracy and precision as a squad level DMR rifle. Currently, there aren’t any in service with the Turkish Land Forces, but this is because the rifle hasn’t entered circulation yet. In addition, it appears that only MKE is producing the KNT-76, unlike the MPT-76 which is manufactured by three different Turkish arms companies; MKE, Kales, and Sarsilmaz. However, there have been modified MPT-76s that are in service with Turkish Land Forces, but these are armory level modifications.