The İstiglal IST-14.5 anti-materiel rifle (also known as the Istiglal and means ''independence'' in Turkish and Azerbaijan Language) is a

recoil-operated Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked-breech autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, as opposed to gas operation or blowback operation using the pressure of th ...

, semi-automatic

anti-materiel An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware (materiel) targets. Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed ...

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

produced by Telemexanika zavodu (''Factory of Telemechanics''), subsidiary of the

Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan The Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan () is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of design, manufacturing, regulation and maintenance of products in the fields of defense, radio electronics, instrument engin ...

History

Although developed in 2008, it was only revealed in 2009 during the International Defense Exhibition Fair. Its appearance has attracted a huge number of visitors. The Istiglal anti-materiel rifle uses the powerful 14.5×114mm round. It has been exported to the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

and the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...

Technical description

The Istiglal can be taken down into 2 separate components for easy transportation. The rifle is said to be operable in adverse weather, such as rain and dirt with temperature ranges from .

Variants

Mübariz (''Fighter'')

This weapon is named after Mubariz Ibrahimov, the National Hero of Azerbaijan. It is a 12.7×108mm version of the Istiglal 14.5mm anti-materiel sniper rifle introduced by the Ministry of Defense Industry of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. The 12.7mm Mubariz sniper rifle is much lighter in comparison to the Istiglal at 15 kg (33 pounds) with a five-round magazine.

Users

* : In use by the

Azerbaijani Armed Forces The Azerbaijani Armed Forces () is the military of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. It was re-established according to the country's Law of the Armed Forces on 9 October 1991. The original Azerbaijan Democratic Republic's armed forces were ...

. * : Used by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

; more planned to be procured. * : The

is interested in importing the rifle and is having talks with the

. An unknown number of Istiglals were purchased. In April 2011,

Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation The Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation ( or MKE for short), established in 1950, is a reorganization of government-controlled group of factories in Turkey that supplied the Turkish Armed Forces with military products. History Its root ...

announced that sniper rifle, which will be produced jointly, will differ much from the model that is being tested in Azerbaijan. Changes will be made in the design, weight and some systems of the weapon. The production of IST-12.7 sniper rifle in Turkey is the first military production transfer of Azerbaijan.

References