The SR 88 (Singapore Rifle 88) is an

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

designed and manufactured in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

by Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now

ST Kinetics ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd (STELS), formerly known as ST Kinetics, is a strategic business area of ST Engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles. In 2000, ST Engineering acquired the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS) ...

Development

Following the poor sales of the

SAR 80 The SAR 80 (Singapore Assault Rifle 80) is an assault rifle from Singapore. History and development In the late 1960s, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) adopted the AR-15 as their main service rifle. Due to difficulties in obtaining the rifles fr ...

, and with their involvement with the

Sterling SAR-87 The Sterling SAR-87 is a military assault rifle of the late 20th century. The Sterling Assault Rifle (SAR), which included elements from Sterling's earlier Light Automatic Rifle (LAR) design, was jointly engineered by Sterling Armaments Company ...

, CIS came up with an improved design – the new SR 88. Many of the parts and mechanisms are similar to its predecessor. Later production models were further improved with higher quality materials including a new handguard and buttstock, this version was designated the SR 88A. The SR 88A was built in two versions, the standard model and the latest carbine model which is a heavy-duty mil-spec version with a shorter barrel and a retractable butt-stock popularly called today as the "baby ultimax" because of its overall shorter length and function and frame similarities with the

Ultimax 100 The Ultimax 100 is a Singapore-made 5.56mm light machine gun, developed by the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now ST Kinetics) by a team of engineers under the guidance of American firearms designer L. James Sullivan. The weapon is e ...

. Its magazine catch will accept a regular M16 magazine and a C-mag which is also used in

M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...

Design details

It uses long-piston-stroke,

gas-operated Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, Semi-automatic firearm, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the Cartridge (firearms), cartridge being fired is used t ...

action with a

rotating bolt Rotating bolt is a method of locking the breech (or rear barrel) of a firearm closed for firing. Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse developed the first rotating bolt firearm, the "Dreyse needle gun", in 1836. The Dreyse locked using the bolt handle ra ...

. The gas piston and gas cylinder are chromium-plated. The gas system features a three position gas regulator – two open positions, for normal and harsh conditions, and one closed for launching of rifle grenades. The

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

is equipped with flash hider, which also serves as a rifle grenade launcher. The lower receiver is an aluminium forging, and the upper receiver is made from stamped steel. Furniture (stock, pistol grip, handguards) is made from plastic materials. The standard stock is of fixed type, but the SR 88 is also available with a side-folding stock. The side-folding carrying handle is mounted at the forward end of the receiver.

Variants

;SR 88 :Standard rifle variant. ;SR 88A :Improved variant of above. ;SR 88A Carbine :Carbine variant for use by paratroopers.

Users

Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan The Royal Bodyguard (RBG) of Bhutan is the royal guard a part of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), which specializes in anti-irregular military, clandestine and covert operations, commando style raids, countering sudden attacks, counterintelligence to ...

Papua New Guinea Defence Force The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into bei ...

and

Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) is a national police force with jurisdiction throughout Papua New Guinea. History The RPNGC was formed from two predecessor bodies that existed prior to the independence of Papua New Guinea. The Roya ...

with the SR88A. **: Used by

Bougainville Revolutionary Army The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) was a secessionist group formed in 1988 by Bougainvilleans seeking independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The leader of the BRA was Francis Ona who led the BRA against the Papua New Guinea Defence Forc ...

. Captured from

. *:

Philippine Marine Corps The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) () is a naval infantry force under the command of the Philippine Navy. The PMC conducts amphibious, expeditionary, and special operations missions. The Philippine Marines share the traditions of both the US ...

Rifles donated by

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on January 3, 1949, and then re-established on July 3, 1993 pursuant to the provision of Re ...

to the PMC. *:

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

. *:

Slovenian Armed Forces The Slovenian Armed Forces or Slovenian Army (SAF; ; 'SV'' are the armed forces of Slovenia. Since 2003, it is organized as a fully professional standing army. The Commander-in-Chief of the SAF is the President of the Republic of Slovenia, ...

. *: Royal Solomon Islands Police Force *

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External link