Vietnam Defence Expo 2024: New Rifle STL-556VN

The biannual Vietnam Defence Expo opened its doors to visitors this Friday, December 19, in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Thanks to the TFB friends in Vietnam, we have exclusive photos from the exhibition.

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In 2014, Vietnam obtained a license and a complete transfer of technology to produce a variant of the Galil rifle from IWI Israel. Since then, TFB has covered some of the new developments designed by Vietnam's defense industry. Check the following articles: “ STV-380 and STV-215 — New Service Rifles of Vietnamese Army” and “ Vietnamese Weapons: New AK Variants STV-410 and STV-416”.

At this exhibition, Z111, the largest Vietnamese firearms manufacturer, presented the new version of their main rifle called STL-5.56VN. The rifle was clearly developed with all the latest trends in mind: M-LOK handguard with Picatinny rails on top, railed receiver cover, folding stock with adjustable cheek riser.

STL-5.56VN features a pretty unique plastic “lower” attached to the bottom of the Galil-style machined steel receiver, typical for the Galil ACE family.

While the current Vietnam service rifle is similar to the Galil ACE, it is not identical: the Vietnamese version of the rifle has a charging handle on the right side and features a more traditional safety selector instead of the ambidextrous lever.

Also, STL has a pretty unique metal stock based on the stock of the Orsis T-5000 sniper rifle.

The name of the rifle, STL, stands for “Súng Tiểu Liên” which translates as submachine gun. In Vietnam, as well as in China, all AK-based rifles are also listed as submachine guns.

Considering the fact that the US arms embargo for Vietnam was lifted in 2016, there is a possibility that some of those firearms will eventually be available on the US civilian market.

The author would like to thank Hội Hóng Tin Quân Sự Việt Nam và Thế Giới for the photos and information.