WDS 2022: Pakistani BW-20 rifles make debut

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.