Country of origin |
Israel |
Entered service |
2006 |
Caliber |
5.56x45 mm |
Weight (empty) |
3.27 kg |
Length |
720 mm |
Length (with folded stock) |
- |
Barrel length |
460
mm |
Muzzle velocity |
910
m/s |
Cyclic rate of fire |
750 - 900 rpm |
Practical rate of fire |
40 - 100 rpm |
Magazine capacity |
30 rounds |
Sighting range |
? |
Range of effective fire |
550 m |
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The Tavor
TAR-21 assault rifle was developed by Israel Military Industries
(IMI) in the early 1990s. The TAR-21 stands for Tavor Assault Rifle
for 21st century. It was first publicly revealed in 1998. This
weapon had been tested by the Israel Defense Forces during 1999 -
2002. It was adopted to service in 2006 and replaced
the M16A1, CAR-15 and
Galil assault rifles. The TAR-21 has
become a standard issue infantry rifle. It has been exported to more
than 20 countries, including Columbia,
Georgia, Guatemala, India, Portugal and Thailand. It is
license-produced in Brazil, India and Ukraine.
It is a gas
operated, selective fire assault rifle with a bullpup design. It is
chambered for a standard NATO 5.56x45 mm ammunition. Initially
there were some teething problems with this weapon, however it seems
that many early problems have been fixed. Some sources report that
the TAR-21 is much more accurate and reliable than the
M4 carbine.
Design of
this weapon is based on ergonomics and composite materials. It is
reported that this assault rifle is comfortable to hold and to fire.
Enlarged triggerguard allows to fire while wearing winter
gloves.
The Tavor
assault rifle is fully ambidextrous. There are spent case ejection
ports on each side. Right or felt side
ejection can be selected. A safety / fire mode selector is also
located on each side. It has a semi-automatic mode, burst mode and
full-auto mode. The charging handle slots are cut on the both sides,
so it can be installed on either side. After partial disassembly
this assault rifle can be easily reconfigured for left-handed
shooters.
The Tavor
TAR-21 is
fed from standard NATO (M16-type) magazines, holding 30 rounds.
Though it looks like this weapon can not accept magazines of the
Galil assault rifle.
This assault
rifle comes with red-dot sight as a prime sighting equipment. Early
production models had no backup sights. This weapon has a standard
Picatinny-type rail and is compatible with various scopes or night
vision systems.
This assault
rifle is compatible with the
M203 40 mm
underbarrel grenade launcher.
Variants
Tavor
CTAR-21 compact assault rifle, fitted with a shorter barrel.
Tavor
MTAR-21 even more compact assault rifle, also referred as the Micro
Tavor. This weapon can be converted to 9x19 mm ammunition, using a
caliber conversion kit. Sound suppressor comes as standard with this
conversion kit. So even though it is based on the TAR-21, it is a
different weapon. In 2002 this weapon was rebranded as the
X95.
Tavor
STAR-21 a dedicated marksman version, fitted with a folding bipod
and Trijicon ACOG 4x magnification optical sight.
Tavor TC-21
civilian semi-automatic version.
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