VB Berapi LP06 gun is not a hoax, as I had previously speculated, but is a prototype which is not likely to go into production until at least 2013. Mohd Arshad Raji, an employee of Malaysian firm Vita Berapi Sdn Bhd blogged back in 2010 …

Vita Berapi is licensed company by the government to undertake R&D on small arm weapons. The company started the R&D in 2005, initially working with weapon designers from Balarus. In 2007 we employed a local weapon designer to take over the function of designing from our foreign designers who left the company at about the same period.

Our weapon designs are solely Malaysian and we have completed the first phase of development, and hope to move on with the second phase i.e. the production of the commercial-ready prototype. Please remember that these are prototypes and we have another two more stages of R&D work before we are confident of coming out with the final product. This may take up to 2 to 3 years (or even more), depending on funding.

We have not talked about where our markets are going to be, but we decided to proceed with the R&D since we felt that it is our corporate responsibility to begin the small arms weapon industry to support the country’s defence industry. As of now we, have developed a total of 5 working prototypes, and we are pleased with the results.

[Hat Tip: Security Scholar]