WDS 2022: Pakistani BW-20 rifles make debut

Pakistan Ordnance Factories has developed the BW-20 family of rifles as part of efforts to address the requirements of the Pakistani military. (Janes/Charles Forrester)

Pakistan Ordnance Factories unveiled its new family of BW-20 assault rifles at the World Defense Show (WDS) in Riyadh.

The BW-20 family of rifles comes in three variants – a 12-inch barrelled assault version for urban and close-in fighting roles, 16-inch barrelled version for standard infantry use, and a 20-inch marksman version, which features a modified stock. Chambered for a 7.62×51 mm round, the rifle has a 20-round polymer magazine and utilises a roller-delayed blowback mechanism.

The rifle was developed following the requirement for new weapons by the Pakistani military in 2015 to replace the Heckler & Koch G3 utilised by the military that had last been upgraded in 1983. During the trials using a variety of weapons, a G3 rifle was used as a benchmark to test against the competing weapons. The trials showed that the G3 outperformed against its competition in range, accuracy, and penetration.

“What we decided to do was retain the roller-delayed mechanism and come up with a rifle that has a more modern feel to it,” Salman Ali, manager design, Weapons, told Janes.