Vektor SS-77

The Vektor SS-77 is a general-purpose machine gun designed and manufactured by Denel Land Systems—formerly Lyttleton Engineering Works (LIW)—of South Africa.

History
In the late 1970s, South Africa was involved in an international controversy over apartheid and the South African Border War in Angola. As a result, it was subject to an international arms embargo and had to, out of necessity, design and manufacture its own weapons. The SS-77 was developed to replace the FN MAG. It was designed in 1977 by Richard Joseph Smith and Lazlo Soregi, hence the name "SS-77". "SS" for Smith and Soregi, "77" for 1977, the year it was designed.

Mini-SS
In the early 1990s, a light machine gun version, the Mini-SS, chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO was introduced. LIW also manufactured kits to convert existing SS-77 to the Mini-SS. Changes include the weight decrease from 9.6 to 8.26 kg with a folding bipod and fixed butt.

Users

 * 🇨🇴 Colombia: Policía Nacional de Colombia, Infantería de Marina de Colombia.
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines: Philippine National Police (Special Action Force).
 * 🇷🇴 Romania: 215 SS-77 MK1 LMGs acquired in late 2008 and delivered in 2009.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa: General-purpose machine gun of the South African National Defence Force. Issued since 1986.

Variants

 * SS-77 is the 7.62×51mm NATO caliber
 * Mini-SS is chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO.
 * Mini-SS Compact