The Royal Thai Army Research & Development Office and the King Monkut University of Technology worked together to design indigenous assault and sniper rifles.

Prototype of the assault rifle produced by the Royal Thai Army Research & Development Office and King Monkut University of Technology (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The rifle showcased at Defense & Security Thailand 2019 is a four-year-old research prototype, Assistant Prof. Kittiphat Rattanachn D. Eng, lecturer/researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology of the KMUTNB, explained to Army Recognition. The next step should be the manufacture of pre-production prototypes for testing in army units. The weapon includes home-designed parts and foreign parts: the gas piston mechanism is inspired from the AK-47 because of its long-proven reliability, some other parts are inspired from the M16 and the remaining ones are the result of local research and development work. The goggle put on the Picatinny rail is a U.S. one.

The weapon fires the NATO standard 5.56x45mm cartridge (M855/SS109) with an 800-meter effective firing range area target, 550-meter point target. The barrel lifetime should be 20,000 rounds.

Prototype of the sniper rifle produced by the Royal Thai Army Research & Development Office and King Monkut University of Technology (Picture source: Army Recognition)

 Five years ago, the R&D team also developed a sniper rifle project at the request of the Thai Navy SEALS. It fires .338 caliber rounds. No further development is ongoing, waiting for a Government green light, as it is also the case for the assault rifle.