KPMR Type 503
コンバットポータブル マシンリピーター 503型 (Romanized: Konbattopōtaburu mashinripītā 503-gata) (Common: Combat Portable Machine Repeater Type 503) Masaki machine gun | |
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Type | Heavy machine gun |
Place of origin | Horokoshi |
Service history | |
In service | 2024 - present |
Used by | Horokoshi Imperial Armed Forces |
Production history | |
Designer | Isobe Masaki |
Designed | 2014-2022 |
Manufacturer | Yondan Heavy Industries |
Produced | 2023 - present |
Variants | See Variants |
Specifications | |
Weight | 60 kg (empty) |
Length | 2150mm |
Barrel length | 1500mm |
Cartridge | 15.5x116mm |
Action | Gas-operated short recoil, rotating bolt |
Rate of fire | 700 RPM |
Muzzle velocity | 1,090m/s (15.5 armor piercing ammunition) |
Maximum firing range | 2,000m |
Feed system | Dual-feed, 2 box magazines with 70 round belts |
Sights | Picatinny rail-attached iron sights or optics |
The Konbattopōtaburu mashinripītā 503-gata (English: Combat Portable Machine Repeater Type 503) is a heavy machine gun designed by Isobe Masaki, produced by Yondan Heavy Industries. It is the result of ten years of prototype development for the Horokoshi Imperial Armed Forces of a machine gun that can simultaneously be fielded in place of standard 12.7x99mm machine guns and 20mm autocannons on motorized infantry and mechanized infantry platforms. Most of the prototype development was devoted to the machine gun's proprietary cartridge, 15.5x116mm, which was first tested in rechambered machine guns of foreign origin, but Yondan approved of the development of a new machine gun that would be best suited for the cartridge. The 15.5x116mm was required to perform with improved armor piercing capability against the 12.7x99mm while being a lighter weight ammunition than 20mm platforms. The Imperial Armed Forces mandated that the cartridge needs to have a muzzle energy of 35,000 joules.
Sometime in 2018, the Imperial Armed Forces Office of Project Development mandated the machine gun needs a dual-feed system to allow operators swift ammunition change from one ammunition type to another. Typically, this would be a change from standard armor piercing ammunition to anti-material high-explosive incendiary/armor-piercing ammunition.
The machine gun's final prototype was completed in October 2022, and the Office of Project Development approved testing where five models would fire 100,000 rounds. The models passed the testing criteria (no more than three major failures per 10,000 rounds), and the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Armed Forces approved the prototypes to be final production for the Imperial Armed Forces and approved of service, in October 2023.