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Production of 12.7mm Istiglal sniper rifle created by Azerbaijani engineers likely to start in Turkey this year

30 April 2011 08:40 (UTC +04:00)

Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK) of Turkey told APA.

Turkey and Azerbaijan reached an agreement on the joint production of the sniper rifle at the end of last year. The joint production was covered in the contract signed by MKEK and Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense Industry in February.

The sniper rifle, which will be produced jointly, will differ much from the model that is being tested in Azerbaijan. Changes will be made in the design, weight and some systems of the weapon.

The model of the weapon that will be produced in Turkey will be included into the inventory of Turkish Armed Forces and sent to other NATO countries and foreign markets within the framework of the cooperation between MKEK and Ministry of Defense Industry.

The production of IST-12.7 sniper rifle in Turkey is the first military, technological transfer of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is producing 14.5mm version of Istiglal rifle at present.

IST-12.7 fires 12.7x108mm bullets. It weighs 16 kg, has 2000 meters of effective range.

istiglal_sniper