SAR 80

The SAR 80 (Singapore Assault Rifle 80) is an assault rifle from Singapore.

Rifle, 5.56 MM, SAR 80
The SAR 80 assault rifle
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Singapore
Service history
In service	1984-present
Used by	See Users
Wars	Sri Lankan Civil War Yugoslav Wars Somali Civil War[1] Kivu conflict
Production history
Designer	Frank Waters
Designed	1976-1984
Manufacturer	Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now ST Kinetics)
No. built	20,000 (in Singapore), unknown number of exports
Variants	Standard, Grenade launcher
Specifications
Mass	3.7 kg (8.2 lb) (empty and without accessories)
Length	970 millimetres (38 in), 738 millimetres (29.1 in) with butt folded
Barrel length	459 millimetres (18 in)
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	600 round/min
Feed system	Various STANAG magazines
Sights	Iron sights

History and development

In the late 1960s, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) adopted the AR-15 as their main service rifle.^{[citation needed]} Due to difficulties in obtaining the rifles from the United States, the Singaporean government purchased a license to domestically manufacture the M16 rifle, which was then designated the M16S1. However, the domestic rifle requirements were not sufficient to allow Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now Singapore Technologies Kinetics) to economically maintain operations at its rifle factory. Export sales of the M16S1 were not a viable option. Due to the requirements of the license agreement, CIS had to request permission from Colt and the US State Department to allow any export sale, which they rarely granted.

In the early 1970s, Sterling Armaments Company engineers had developed their own 5.56 mm rifle design, the Light Automatic Rifle (LAR), but this had been shelved when Sterling acquired a manufacturing licence for the US-designed Armalite AR-18 assault rifle. While Sterling could not legally sublicense the AR-18, their AR-18 derived Sterling Assault Rifle (SAR) was available.^[2][3] This was based on a refined version of the Light Automatic Rifle, fitted with an AR-18 trigger group. Sterling licensed the SAR design to CIS, who put it into production as the SAR 80.

The successor to this weapon is the SR-88.

Users

Slovenian Territorial Defence equipped with the SAR 80.

• Central African Republic: Seen in the hands of Central African Gendarmerie.^[4]
• Croatia: Croatian Army.^[5][6]
• DR Congo Some used by Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in Democratic Republic of Congo^[7]
• Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea Defence Force.^[8]
• Slovenia: Slovenian Army.^[9]
• Somalia: Somalia received SAR 80s during the 1980s.^[9] Most seen in the Middle East, heavily modified by various forces fighting in the region.^[10] 20,000 from Charted Industries of Singapore 1982-83 ^[11]

• Sri Lanka^[12]
• Zaire^[7]

Non state users

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam^[13]

See also

• SA80
• Leader Dynamics Series T2 MK5
• Heckler & Koch G36
• List of assault rifles