The CAR 816, also called Caracal Sultan or simply Sultan, is a
5.56×45mm NATO
The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, but often pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, L110, and ...
,
gas-operated
Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...
, magazine-fed
assault rifle that is produced by
Caracal International
Caracal International LLC is a small arms company headquartered in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, responsible for producing a variety of small arms for use by civilians, professional law enforcement and military operators.
It is a sub ...
in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. The rifle is also called Sultan in memory of the Emirati
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi who was
killed in action in
Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
History
The Caracal CAR 816 shares lineage to the Heckler & Koch
HK416
The Heckler & Koch HK416 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch.
Although the design is based on the AR-15 class of firearm (specifical ...
. The principal firearms engineers for the CAR 816 were Robert Hirt and Chris Sirois. Hirt was instrumental in the development of the HK416. Following his time with Heckler & Koch, Hirt was recruited by
SIG Sauer
Several brother companies that design and manufacture firearms use the brand name SIG Sauer . The original company, ''Schweizerische Waggon-Fabrik'' (SWF), later ''Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft'' (SIG), went through several selloffs, ...
to work with then SIG engineer Chris Sirois on an improved version of the HK416: the
SIG Sauer SIG516
The SIG Sauer SIG516 is a semi-automatic rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer. It is an AR-15 style rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. Introduced in 2010, the SIG516 was discontinued as of 2019. A variant chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO, the SIG716i, re ...
. Hirt and Siriois were then recruited by Caracal to develop a rifle that was superior to both the HK416 and SIG516. From this, the CAR 816 was created.
The CAR 816 is the primary
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
assault rifle of the
United Arab Emirates Armed Forces
The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces ( ar, القوات المسلحة لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa li-Dawlat al-ʾImārāt al-ʿArabīyyah al-Muttaḥidah) are the armed forces of the Unit ...
.
Design and features
![PISTONM16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/PISTONM16.gif)
The CAR 816 is a gas operated, select fire assault rifle with ambidextrous controls that fires from a
closed
Closed may refer to:
Mathematics
* Closure (mathematics), a set, along with operations, for which applying those operations on members always results in a member of the set
* Closed set, a set which contains all its limit points
* Closed interval, ...
rotary bolt.
The AR 816 is based on the
AR-15 platform ergonomic architecture, but uses a
short-stroke gas piston operating system (unlike the
AR-15's piston-operated gas impingement system) with a user-adjustable gas system. With the help of the three position regulator (normal, adverse conditions and
suppressor/silencer settings), the gas system can be adjusted to function reliably with various propellant, projectile, fouling, operating environment and configuration specific pressure behavior. The chamber is modified so the rifle is over-the-beach capable to let the CAR 816 fire safely as quickly as possible after being submerged in water. The M4 carbine profile hammer forged chrome lined barrel has a
twist rate
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...
and features a standard A2-style
flash suppressor
A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that ...
at its muzzle end.
Stock
The CAR 816
handguard
A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops (either partially or full-length) the barrel of a firearm, to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel (e.g. accidental collision with surrounding objects, or the user accidentally tou ...
features four STANAG 2324/MIL-STD-1913
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was o ...
s. These allow for direct accessory attachment onto the rail mounting points, and can be removed without the usage of tools.
The shoulder stock is a telescoping 6 position type stock which is adjustable for length of pull.
Trigger
The CAR 816 uses a mil-spec direct trigger.
Fire selector
The selector settings are: safe, semi-automatic fire and automatic fire.
Sights
The CAR 816 basic version features rail mounted flip up rear and front
iron sights
Iron sights are a system of physical alignment markers (usually made of metallic material) used as a sighting device to assist the accurate aiming of ranged weapons (such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow or even compound bow), or less commonly ...
. The integrated rail on the upper receiver and its continuation on the handguard at the 12 o'clock position allows for the adaptation of various aiming optics.
Feeding
The CAR 816 features a
Draft STANAG 4179 compliant magazine well and is fed with STANAG magazines with a standard capacity of 30 rounds. Other STANAG compatible box and drum magazines can be used.
Variants
The weapon is available in semi-automatic and select-fire configurations with four barrel lengths;a personal defence weapon with a barrel, a compact assault rifle with a barrel, carbine with a barrel and assault rifle with a barrel.
The standard issue of the rifle supplied to the UAE armed forces bears an engraving honoring Colonel
Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi.
The Caracal CAR816 A2 is a semi-automatic only export version produced in the United States by Caracal USA. It is built to exceed the NATO test protocols; “Bore Obstruction” and “Over the Beach” testing. It features some minor alterations (
M-LOK
M-LOK, for Modular Lock, is a firearm rail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries. The license is free-of-charge, but subject to an approval process.
M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment onto the "negative s ...
rails on the handguard and a button cut and
QPQ treated steel modified M4 contour barrel) to better meet civilian market preferences in the United States.
Users
Current users
* - carbine variant used by the
Republican Guard
A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...
.
* - 80,000 assault rifles.
Failed bids
* - 93,895 carbines were ordered in September 2018, but the order was cancelled in September 2020 in favour of domestically developed carbines under the
Atmanirbhar Bharat
Atmanirbhar Bharat (Devanagari: ) which translates to 'self-reliant India', is a phrase the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his government used and popularised in relation to the country's economic development plans. The phrase is an ...
initiative. Later that month Caracal offered to manufacture the weapons in India.
* - Considered by Dasan Machineries as a candidate to replace the
Daewoo Precision Industries K1
The Daewoo Precision Industries K1/K1A is a South Korean selective-fire assault rifle developed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and manufactured by Daewoo Precision Industries (now S&T Motiv) and Dasan Machineries (since 2016). It enter ...
used by the
Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command
The Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command (ROK-SWC; ko, 대한민국 육군 특수전사령부 or 특전사; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍 特殊戰司令部), also known as the Republic of Korea Army Special Forces "Black Berets" (R.O.K. ...
. Instead, Dasan Machineries submitted the
DSAR-15PC as a domestic design became a tender requirement.
DSAR15P, 2020-09-2020, at: "da-san.co.kr"
/ref>
See also
*Caracal pistol
The Caracal pistol is a series of semi-automatic pistols manufactured by Caracal International LLC a subsidiary of Tawazun Holding from the United Arab Emirates. The Caracal pistol series are the first pistols made in the United Arab Emirates an ...
* CAR 817 AR
References
External links
Caracal International LLC.
CAR 816 manufacturer specifications
CAR816 A2 manufacturer specifications (caracalusa.com)
{{ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives
5.56×45mm NATO assault rifles
Short stroke piston firearms
Modular firearms
Weapons of the United Arab Emirates