The SAR 21 is a bullpupassault rifle designed and manufactured in Singapore. First revealed and subsequently adopted by the Singapore Armed Forces in 1999, it was designed and developed over a four-year period and was intended to replace the locally license-built M16S1 by the Ministry of Defence, Singapore Army and the Chartered Industries of Singapore. Many of its design features are directly intended to counter the weaknesses of the M16S1 as encountered operationally by some infantrymen. The rifle is being sold for export use aside from domestic use. In the United States, it was marketed by ST Kinetics via its American subsidiary, VT Systems. The SAR 21 would be replaced in production in the near future by the BR18.
History and development
Since the mid-80s, the SAF had an outstanding requirement to come up with a replacement for their M16S1 as most of these had been in use since 1973, in part due to limitations that Singapore cannot export the M16S1 or make new assault rifles based on it. In 1994, a proposal by SAF was submitted to the MINDEF for options to either procure newer weapons or to develop its own indigenous rifle. On 19 November 2002, a patent was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Tuck Wah Chee and Felix Tsai with the patent number 6,481,144 B1. MINDEF officials, after consultations with the SAF, decided against buying weapons off the shelf as it would require soldiers to adjust to the new weapon, choosing instead to develop a weapon, designed and made specifically for ease of use by the conscript soldiers of the SAF, who are mostly of slighter physiques. Coupled with the rising costs of maintaining the M16S1s in SAF's armory, this made it even more justifiable to develop a low-maintenance weapon. The rifle was in Indian news when an audit was made on whether criminal charges should be filed against ex-Ordnance Factory Board director Sudipta Ghosh for improperly declaring a partnership with STK over supplying Indian law enforcement with the SAR 21 Modular Mounting System.
Design
The SAR 21 is made of a rugged, high impact polymer, most of the manufacturing is done utilising CNC machines, with ultrasonic welding for the steel-reinforcedreceiver halves and the gun barrel being cold hammer forged. It uses a modified Stoner operating system, boasting higher reliability and lower recoil. The translucent magazine allows precise assessment of current ammo load. The SAR 21 is also the first production assault rifle of its class to incorporate a built-in Laser Aiming Device as standard. It has a 5 position switch which can emit a visible beam at high or low power. It can also be set to "steady on" or "momentary on" which is triggered with the use of a pressure switch activated with the user's left thumb. The rifle incorporates various patented safety features, such as a Kevlar cheek plate and overpressure vent that protects the shooter in the event of a chamber explosion or catastrophic failure. It also has an integral 1.5x opticalscope that is built into its carrying handle. The scope aids in target acquisition, particularly under low light conditions. The scope is factory-zeroed, and requires minimal further zeroing to suit different users. This minimizes non-training range time.
Design issues
Early users of the weapon in the Singapore Armed Forces experienced many problems due to their unfamiliarity with the bullpup design. Their criticisms include:
the awkward position of the magazine well, and the difficulty in changing magazines, requiring multiple hand changes due to its bullpup shape
the awkward position of the fire selector, as opposed to the thumb selector on the M16S1
the increased muzzle blast, due to the muzzle being nearer to the user's ears
being told by instructors that it is a "right-handed only" weapon and left-handed soldiers having to fire with their right hand
iron sights that chip off easily when weapon is dropped
Lack of internal illumination of the scope
Some of these criticisms were addressed with design modifications to the later production models. New weapon handling procedures were also introduced.
The magazine changing issue was solved with training soldiers to always hold the pistol grip with their master hand. The charging of the weapon and reloading of magazines are to be done by the non-master hand.
The sluggish trigger pull was improved by using a stiff sliding plate in place of the flexible rod.
The Kevlar plating on the left side of the weapon butt is effective in protecting the user from any internal chamber explosion by directing the resulting force to the right. However, that resultant force would also seriously injure anyone unfortunate enough to be on the right side of the weapon. In the case of a user firing from his or her left shoulder, this could cause severe injury to his or her face. As a result, all left-handed SAF soldiers are taught to fire from their right shoulder as a safety measure. The SAR 21 was designed with a small in-built brass deflector to eject spent bullet casings forward, thus reducing the chances of the spent casings hitting a left-handed user's face. This means the rifle is not completely ambidextrous but may, in a pinch, be fired from the left shoulder.
Operation
Like the M16 rifle, the bolt locks open on an empty magazine. When the magazine is exhausted, it is removed by depressing the AK-style lever. Clearing the weapon is accomplished by removing the magazine, pulling the charging handle to the rear, and observing the chamber. After loading a magazine into the housing, the weapon is made "ready" by cocking the weapon, and engaging the FN MAG-type safety button forward of the trigger guard. The position of the fire selector button on the stock may also be adjusted. The on/off switch for the laser aiming device is located on the left handguard; when holding the weapon at ready, the left thumb rests naturally on it. With sluggish operation due to fouling, the gas regulator setting may be increased by turning it with a coin, screwdriver, or any other thin flat object. Alternatively, the gas regulator can be unlatched and turned by hand with aid of the knurled surface.
