SAR - 21 The SAR - 21 is the latest development of the Singapore ' s Chartered Industries company , now known as the Singapore Technologies Kinetics division . This rifle was first displayed on public in 1999 , at the DSEi ' 99 defense exhibition . At the present time the SAR - 21 is adopted by the Singapore Armed Forces as the standard assault rifle , and gradually replaces the ageing M16 S1 ( Singapore - made M16A1 rifle ) , and CIS previous SAR - 80 and SR - 88 rifles . It is also offered for export military and law enforcement sales . At the present time it ' s hard to judge this rifle , but the available reports are quite favorable , stating that the gun is comfortable to carry and fire , accurate , reliable and has low recoil . While SAR - 21 is much shorter than the M16 rifle with the barrel of the same length , the SAR - 21 has the disadvantage of the right - side only extraction , with no provisions to change it to the left side ( unlike most other modern bullpup rifles , like the Steyr AUG , GIAT FAMAS or the IMI Tavor ) . Technical description . . The SAR - 21 represents some kind of mainstream in the turn - of - the - centuries small arms technology . It is of bullpup layout , and utilizes the most conventional gas operated , rotating bolt locked action , with detachable box magazine feeding . The gas system of the SAR - 21 is located above the barrel . The long stroke piston is rigidly attached to the bolt carrier . The M16 - style rotating bolt has 7 lugs and locks into the barrel extension . The return spring is partially housed inside the hollow gas piston rod and behind it . The charging handle is located above the gun housing , under the scope / carrying handle unit , and folds forward when not in use . The charging handle does not reciprocate when gun is fired . On the SAR - 21 P ( Picatinny rail ) and SAR - 21 RIS ( Rail Interface System ) versions of the basic design the charging handle is moved to the left side of the gun , leaving the place at the top for the sights / accessory rail . The housing of the SAR - 21 is made from tough , high impact resistant polymer , and consists of barrel section with the barrel / gas system , forearm and sights , upper receiver with the pistol grip and magazine housing , and the lower receiver with the buttplate and the hammer unit inside . All major parts are held together by the push - pins and can be separated for disassembly without any special tools . The upper receiver also incorporates a special safety system , which protects the shooters ' face in the event of the cartridge case rupture or explosion . The safety switch is located at the front of the enlarged triggerguard and is of the cross - bolt , push - button type . SAR - 21 can provide 2 modes of fire , single shots and full automatic fire . The SAR - 21 is fed using proprietary 30 - rounds box magazines , made from the translucent plastic . The standard sighting equipment includes an integral 1 . 5X magnification telescope sight , with the emergency backup open sights formed at the top of the telescope housing . The SAR - 21 P and SAR - 21 RIS have no integral sights , instead these rifles featured a NATO - standard Picatinny type scope rail at the top of the gun , that can be fitted with wide variety of day and night sighting devices . Another interesting feature of SAR - 21 is that it incorporates a laser aiming module ( LAM , also sometimes referred as a laser pointer ) as a standard feature . The LAM is mounted below the barrel , inside the forearm , and can emit either visible or infrared beams . The LAM switch is built into the forearm of the rifle . The standard SAR - 21can be fitted with the 40mm underbarrel grenade launchers , either US - made M203 or Singapore - made CIS 40GL . The SAR - 21 RIS can sport a wide variety of add - on tactical accessories , including vertical " assault " foregrip , tactical lights etc . Variants . SAR 21 Light Machine Gun ( LMG ) . Fitted with an open bolt , it has a heavy 513 mm ( 20 . 2 in ) barrel with an integral folding bipod and a foregrip . S SAR 21 Sharpshooter . Same as the basic SAR 21 , but has 3 . 0x optical sight instead of standard 1 . 5x sight . The sight picture is composed of luminous black paint , allowing easier target engagement at night without use of the LAD . SAR 21 Grenade Launcher ( GL ) . Attached with a CIS 40 mm or M203 grenade launcher . Several sub - variants / prototypes incorporate different targeting modules ( or mounted on p - rails ) for grenade target acquisition . Known sights to have been used include aiming quadrants , various optical sights and laser fire control systems . SAR 21 P - rail . Has a Picatinny rail in place of its integral optical sight Charging handle is moved to the left hand side of the weapon ( Interchangeable with right side ) . SAR 21 Modular Mounting System ( MMS ) . Has integral optical sight and LAD removed to allow a wide variety of add - on tactical accessories , such as vertical assault grips , tactical lights and reflex sights . Charging handle is moved to the left hand side of the weapon . Similar to P - rail model with exception of shorter barrel . SAR 21 Light Weight Carbine . A light weight SAR 21 variant was revealed during the Asian Defence Exhibition held in conjunction with 2006 Asian Aerospace . The variant boasts an ultra - short barrel , shorter handguards and an integral holo - dot aiming recticle . A Picatinny rail is used as well . RCF module . The Round Corner Firing ( RCF ) module , similar n concept to the Israeli CornerShot , can be attached to any of the above SAR 21 variants for conducting operations in an urban environment . SAR 21A . The prototype was unveiled at the Singapore Air show 2010 , this updated variant boasts sturdier thumb selector for ambidextrous control , an unloaded weight of 3 . 2 kg ( 7 lb 0 . 9 oz ) , a full built - in Picatinny rail along its length and a higher rate of firing at 900 RPM . Production will begin in 2011