MPT-76

The MPT-76 (stands for Milli Piyade Tüfeği, National Infantry Rifle) is a modular rifle designed by MKEK & Kalekalıp and produced by MKEK to meet the demands of the Turkish Armed Forces and to replace its aging Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifles due to most of them being near the end of their service life. The MPT-76 was designed for robust high altitude, all weather, extremely hot and extremely cold arctic mountain warfare as well as combat on easier terrain. It is certified to operate under dusty, muddy, wet, and areas of high and low atmospheric pressure such as high mountain or deep sea environments. The MKEK MPT is a rifle intended to take abuse and extreme mistreatment and still maintain high accuracy and reliability in order to survive in true battle environments. Ankara has invested 3 Million USD into the project.

It made its first public appearance at the Eurosatory 2014, ADEX 2014 and the MSPO 2014 events.

History
After the first prototypes were built in 2008 as the Mehmetçik-1 in 5.56×45mm NATO, the rifle received negative feedback from Turkish soldiers testing it who reported that they preferred the 7.62×51mm NATO round which has far greater stopping power and range, as used in their G3 service rifles. The proposed Mehmetcik-1 was cancelled after the first prototype and engineers started over again with a battle rifle design instead.

The first batch of 200 MPT-76s were delivered on May 18, 2014 and received positive feedback. The rifle was reported to be extremely accurate, reliable, and had impressive knockdown power and outmatched the G3 in all categories. The Turkish Army plans to phase out its G3 throughout 2015 and to make the MPT-76 its main service rifle by the end of 2016.

Azerbaijan plans to produce parts of the rifle in cooperation with Turkey.

Design
The MPT-76 is designed for robust and unconditional combat all while without compromising accuracy. The need for such a rifle surfaced during the PKK conflict and the anti-terror skirmishes of the Turkish Army against the PKK in the countries south east borders with Iraq, an area of vast mountains with extreme climates and terrain. Its design was based on the AR-15, but with the gas piston system influenced by the HK 417. It has a picatinny rail system and mounting options for an under-barrel shotgun and grenade launcher.

Planned variants include 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO versions of the MPT, though it is unknown if the Turkish Army will adopt the former. Left and right-hand versions of the MPT are also planned.

Variants
The following are planned to be in production:


 * MPT-76 Carbine with 12 inch barrel
 * MPT-76 Battle Rifle with 16 inch barrel
 * MPT-76 Designated Marksman's Rifle with 20 inch barrel

Users

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Requested to take part in the project as a fellow Turkic nation.
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: Received 200 MPT-76 rifles. 5,000 rifles out of the ordered 35,000 will be delivered by years end, following suggestions on changes to be made.  The Turkish Armed Forces eventually plans on buying up to 500,000 rifles, making the MPT its main service and combat rifle for the Turkish Army all while decommissioning the aging HK G3 out of service.