Two weeks ago, Janes reported that production of the Turkish MPT-76 rifle had begun. The rifle is a 7.62mm caliber derivative of the German HK417 rifle, itself a derivative of the AR-15 series of rifles. The MPT-76 inherits the operating rod mechanism of the G36 through its German parents, but differs from the HK417 in some details of the handguard mounting system and the receiver.

Tim of the Military Arms Channel recently released a video overview of the MPT-76, including a shoot session with the new rifle:

The Jane’s press release is replicated below:

Turkey’s Defence Industries Undersecretariat (SSM) and the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industries Corporation (MKEK) signed a contract on 2 July covering the serial production of MPT-76 battle rifles for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

Under the initial phase of the project, which will see the production of 35,014 MPT-76s, 20,000 rifles will be manufactured for the land and naval forces commands as well as for the gendarmerie general command, according to a statement released by the SSM. The value of the contract is around TRY80 million (USD30 million).

The project intends the MPT-76s to meet the TSK’s 7.62 mm infantry rifle requirements.

The MPT-76 was designed as an infantry rifle; the Turks still using 7.62 NATO as standard in their version of the G3. Significant effort has been made to lighten the weapon versus the HK417, resulting in a 0.3kg weight reduction versus the comparable HK417A2 16.5″ barrel model.