TAR-21: auto mount
At the beginning of the 90 of the last century, the army of Israel needed a new automatic rifle weapon. The Galil machine gun was still of some interest, but it was already out of date, which is why a competition for a new weapon was announced. Shortly before the announcement of the purchase of new weapons by IMI (Israel Military Industries), which was then a state, the work on a new machine gun was initiated. Nevertheless, the creation of weapons is not a quick matter and the leadership of the IDF decided to finance the IMI project, and before launching it into the series to purchase a number of American M16 rifles. Indeed, the machine went into the series more than 10 years after the start of work on it. During this time, IMI managed to become a private firm and renamed IWI (Israeli Weapons Industries Ltd).
Feeling the current trends in the weapons business, IMI initially developed not one type of weapon, but a whole complex based on the same mechanics and the most unified parts. The prototype line was shown to the public in the middle of 90's, called M-203. However, soon, so that the machine gun would not be confused with the grenade launcher, it was renamed AAR - Advanced Assault Riffle (progressive assault rifle). In 1998, the machine gun finally received a name that no longer changed: TAR-21, which stands for Tavor Assault Riffle 21 century — the Tavor assault rifle of the 21st century. The machine gun was named after the legendary mountain, in Russian transcription called Tabor.
The main feature of the TAR complex is the bullpup layout. Automatic weapons work by discharging the powder gases, the vapor node is located in the body of the weapon above the barrel. The gas piston is rigidly connected to the slide frame and therefore has a long stroke. Locking the barrel in all versions of the machine by turning the bolt (seven lugs). Details for the extraction of liners are located on the gate. Interestingly, IMI engineers have foreseen the possibility of a small rework of the bolt, so that the sleeves can be thrown through a special window on the left side of the receiver (by default, the sleeves fly out to the right). Left-handed arrows will be grateful. The situation is similar with the charging handle - there are cutouts for it on both sides of the plastic case; it is not rigidly connected with the bolt group and is motionless when fired. The trigger mechanism "Tavor" does not have any revolutionary innovations. It is made on the trigger system and is located, like other bull-pap machines, in the butt. USM has two modes of fire - single and automatic. Switching takes place using a flag located above the pistol grip, again, on both sides. A three-position translator (fuse, single and automatic) is connected to the USM with a stiff bollard, just like the trigger. In most types of weapons in the Tavor range, NATO 5,56x45 cartridges are used, but this is not the only option (more on this later). Shops also meet the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance. The standard box magazine for Tavor contains 30 cartridges. The base rate of the machine is within 750-900 rounds per minute.
Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle
Most of the body of the machine, with the exception of a few alloy and steel parts, is made of impact-resistant plastic. The trigger guard base TAR-21 is large and completely covers the fingers of the arrow. Because of the layout of the bullpup, for the convenience of aiming, a “carrying handle” was installed on the machine. The quotes here are applied for the reason that the slot between the handle and the body of the machine is small enough so that you can stick your fingers into it. Designers have provided the possibility of incomplete disassembly of weapons in the field and without the use of tools. To do this, push the pin located at the top of the receiver in front of the butt plate (for this you can use the cartridge), fold the butt pad back and back and remove the slide frame. After that, you can do the rest of the disassembly of weapons.
Early versions of the TAR-21 sights were absent altogether. Later, on serial models, open folding front sight and rear sight appeared. Later serial TAR-21 are equipped with ITL MARS collimator sight with integrated laser target designator. For action at night behind the gun, you can install the appropriate night vision device. Of particular interest is the “integration” of a collimator sight with a gun: when cocking a weapon, the sight light automatically turns on, and it also turns off by discharging the gun.
Now in production are the following modifications of "Tavor":
- TAR-21. The base model chambered for 5,56x45 mm NATO.
- GTAR-21. Grenade-TAR - basic model with a node for mounting grenade launcher M203.
- CTAR-21. Commando-TAR is a lightweight and short version. It has a barrel length of 380 mm against 460 in the base model and a total length of 640 mm (720 mm in TAR-21). Weight reduced from 3,27 kg to 3,18. The rest is similar to the prototype model.
- MTAR-21. Micro-TAR is a subcompact machine with a 33-centimeter barrel, with a total length of 59 cm and a dry weight of only 2,9 kg. Also, to reduce the size of a large trigger guard in the entire pistol grip is replaced by a small traditional. MTAR-21 was made as a personal defense weapon (PDW) for the crews of armored vehicles, weapons calculations, etc. Also for MTAR-21 there is a special kit called Convertion Kit to 5.56 / 9х19 mm, consisting of a barrel, bolt carrier and a receiver of stores. After installing the kit on the machine gun, he can use the 9xXNNXX mm Parabellum cartridges for firing, which makes a real submachine gun out of a compact assault rifle.
- STAR-21. Sniper-TAR - sniper rifle. It is completed with an optical sight and bipod. The rest is similar to the basic machine.
- TC-21. Tavor Carabine is a civilian version of TAR. He is not able to fire in bursts, is equipped with a magazine for 10 ammunition and is equipped with a kind of "pillow" under the cheek on the upper side of the receiver.
Since 2000, various versions of TAR in limited quantities have come into service of various units of the Israeli army, first and foremost special forces. At this time, in one of the IDF infantry schools, exercises were conducted, during which two platoons, one of which was armed with Tavor, and the other with M16, stormed the building with a conditional opponent and were fighting the city in the same conditions. According to the results of the exercises, TAR was recognized as a more accurate and easy-to-use weapon. The only minus, which noted the Israeli military - the price. TAR in the basic configuration costs more than a thousand US dollars. American M16, in turn, is shipped to Israel on favorable terms, because of which they cost several times less than TAR.
The economic side was not embarrassed by the leadership of the Israeli army, and 31 March, March 2004, the complex Tavor was adopted. Prior to 2008, in order to replace obsolete types, 16 thousands of such machines received troops. Interested in "Tavor" and foreign countries, not only in terms of procurement. For example, the Brazilian company Taurus bought a license for the production of TAR. Since 2002, Tavor are shipped to India, as well as these machines are purchased by Guatemala, Portugal, Colombia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. In the latter case, the final assembly of automata from Israeli components is carried out in the territory of Ukraine. Nevertheless, there is still no information regarding the bulk purchases of Tavor by the Ukrainian security forces. Also, a number of TAR-21 are available in Georgia, where they hit 2006 in order of military assistance. It should be noted that only in Israel Tavor are used as small arms for a simple soldier - in the armies of other countries they are available in extremely limited quantities and mostly in special units.
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