Sarsılmaz SAR 223 Assault Rifle
For a long time, Turkey procured the needed light combat weapons from NATO and its allies under military assistance, and as of 1975, from MKE (Mechanical and Chemical Industry) corporation under licensed manufacturing. Today, a significant amount of sources are transferred abroad as the light weapon needs are satisfied by outsourcing from abroad or under licensed manufacturing.
Currently, as private sector companies have improved their capabilities and are realizing authentic models in areas like weapon manufacturing which require advanced technology, it is considered that benefiting from both the company and country capabilities in light weapon production is of significant importance. It is a must to keep the sources at home, to perfectly meet the needs of Turkish security forces, to acquire the ability to design and manufacture authentic weapons aimed for the domestic defence industry, and to bring competitiveness to improve product development abilities, as well as to ensure possibilities for exporting abroad.
In order to reach this aim, Sarsılmaz began to develop a project completely based on its own resources, having an authentic design, featuring characteristics that will meet the needs of worldwide markets, and aimed to be sold in worldwide markets. SAR 223 assault rifle has emerged as a national and authentic design as a result of this Research & Development project.
At the outset of the project, a gas-operated rifle with high export potential was the initial design based on customer demands. Meanwhile, scientific institutions and universities planned various scientific endeavors, meeting specific scientific factors identified in the developed R&D project to ensure an authentic design. The developed R&D project was approved by TÜBİTAK-TEYDEB (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey – Technology and Innovation Grant Programs Directorate) Scientific Board in May 2009, and was successfully completed under the name: “Project on Developing a Light Effective, Modular, Modern Assault Rifle with High Competitive Power in International Market” in 2 years under TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) support. The cost of the project was US$ 2.340.000. In this project, there was cooperation among scientific institutions such as Middle East Technical University, Kocaeli University and TÜBİTAK SAGE.
Basic elements of the design concept:
In line with technological developments, the improvements in weapons, tools and equipment, have had a direct impact on the battle field. It has become of significant importance to ensure that each soldier carrying an assault rifle strikes the target at the first shot in battle conditions, day and night, under any land and weather conditions, especially in residential areas.
For this purpose, the key criteria taken as a basis for the development of the SAR 223 assault rifle were as follows:
High firing capacity,
Featuring modular weapon characteristics,
Light,
Featuring high effective range,
Effective weapon structure with high healthy shooting capacity under night and poor vision conditions.
Designated features of SAR 223 assault rifle: It has a structure effective under any land conditions, any climate conditions, day and night, light and modular with high hit percentage at first shot, featuring grenade launcher, using improved ammunition, integrable with improvable electro-optical systems and accessories for improving the effectiveness of the weapon such as automatic distance measuring day/night optical vision scopes, laser pointer, automatic shooting control system.
Effective and successful use of the warrior soldier’s basic weapon, that is the assault rifle, depends on the training level of the user. Therefore, a simple-to-use weapon system design will reduce the necessary training time.
Moreover, domestically performed manufacturing will ensure that maintenance, repair and procurement of spare parts are more cost-effective, quicker and simpler. Therefore, it must absolutely be taken into account that the system to be procured should:
ensure easy training, use and maintenance,
be compatible with other equipments of the user,
be compatible with materials and equipments used in NATO countries.
Design and Project stages: This weapon, prepared for heavy military duties, incorporates modern advanced engineering software and techniques including many new technologies developed during the time period up to its production. In the design stage of the rifle, which is the authentic design of Sarsılmaz, first the drawings of the rifle were drafted and then a virtual prototype was prepared on a computer. Fatigue, break, vibration, friction, finite element analysis were performed by subjecting the operating system to electronically calculated actual forces. Thousands of virtual bullets were fired using the virtual prototype in a virtual platform where real bursting conditions were simulated.
In the end of this stage, the first phase of the design was completed by creating a final form before the prototype under the optimization study which ensured application of the most suitable technical form.
As permission of the Ministry of National Defence is required for building prototypes and fire tests, completion of bureaucratic procedures were followed, and upon grant of the prototype permission in the first half of 2012, 2 test prototypes were prepared, and the initial fire tests were successfully completed. Upon inspection and assessment of the committee from the Ministry of National Defence, the manufacturing line was qualified, and on December 31, 2012, Sarsılmaz became the first private sector company in Turkey to be granted an assault rifle production permit by the Ministry of National Defence. This first step forward will help Sarsılmaz cover great distances toward developing a weapon family in the near future, and promoting a high competitiveness in the international arena.
“With This Project, Sarsılmaz has well Deservedly Gained itself a Place Among Major League Players in Light Weapon Manufacturing”
SAR 223 is a version that combines the most current modular weapon concepts. It features a folding stock developed to reduce the carriage length along with picatinny rails integrated to the body enabling the user to mount many accessories from laser pointer to flash lights from folding sights to day/night vision devices; and as an assault rifle, it can also be equipped with miscellaneous battle accessories including a 40 mm grenade launcher. SAR 223 reflects the masterful combination of traditional technologies in terms of design.
