MKEK 40mm Tamburlu Bombaatar Revolver Grenade Launcher -MANUFACTURER BACKGROUND MKEK (Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu) is a Turkish industrial corporation engaged in the defense sector as well as in other civilian and export-related production, which capital belongs 100% to the Ministry of Defense of the Turkish Republic, and which roots extend to the 15th century. MKEK, under various names, has been active largely dependent on the armed forces and gained its current legal status as a state organization in 1950. With its 12 Affiliated Factories spread out to the different regions of Turkey and with its skilled personnel, MKEK today produces for the defence industry products under the umbrella of Ministry of Defence. MKEK has the capability and potential for meeting local needs and foreign requirements. MKEK has also achived the integration in its own body and at the same time has possessed a perfect structure,capable of manufacturing various products. MKEK renews itself and its productions range continuously by updated technologies. The main affiliated factories to the MKEK Corporation are: Aðýr Silah ve Çelik Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (KIRIKKALE) MKE Barutsan Elmadað Barut Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ELMADAÐ) Çankýrý Silah Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ÇANKIRI) Elmadað Roket Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ELMADAÐ) Gazi Fiþek Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ANKARA) MKE Hurda Ýþletmesi Müdürlüðü (ANKARA~KIRIKKALE-ALIAÐA-SEYMEN) Kapsül Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ANKARA) MKE Maksam Makina Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (ANKARA) Mühimmat Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (KIRIKKALE) Nitroselüloz Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (KIRIKKALE) Pirinç Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (KIRIKKALE) Silah Fabrikasý Müdürlüðü (KIRIKKALE) Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu is a huge integrated holding composed of one head office in Ankara,two branches in Istanbul and Kýrýkkale and 12 Affiliated Factories located in different regions of Turkey. Head office and 12 Factories are awarded with latest AQAP/ISO certificates. -PRODUCT DESCRIPTION MKEK launched some year ago this Revolver Grenade Launcher, known in Turkish as the "40mm Tamburlu Bombaatar" (40x46mm-SR caliber Cylinder-fed Grenade Launcher) in response to the adoption by the Turkish Armed Forces of the South-African made Milkor MGL-Mk1 multishot grenade launcher as a squad-level issued high-explosive support weapon. Baslically, MILKOR MARKETING PTY Ltd. of South Africa has granted MKEK the license for a national manufacture line of this product, thus to make easier the issue of the weapon to the Turkish forces. The MKEK Revolver Grenade Launcher is basically an un-remarkeable copy of the original South-African MGL, from which it seems to have no releavant differences. It is an exact copy of the original MILKOR product, featuring the same kind of working system (by inertia-operated 6-shots revolving cylinder), the same upfolding stock and the same sight system. What is remarkable to note is that MKEK is now offering their Revolver Grenade Launcher for export. It is an odd thing. Exception made for a few American products made by Hawk Enterprises, Penn Arms or Defense Technologies / Federal Laboratories, there aren't many man-portable multi-shot grenade launchers around. The same MILKOR MGL has been the most successful product in this category, having been adopted by more than 20 countries worldwide and having given birth to an offspring of inspired designs and more or less direct imitations. The Turkish MKEK Revolver Grenade Launcher is the only direct copy known to be available; also the Croatian company RH-ALAN has thrown on the market, some time ago, the RGB-6 multishot grenade launcher which had been adopted by the newly-founded Croatian Armed Forces after the breakout of Yugoslavia; but the RGB-6 was an un-licensed copy, patterned after the MGL since some of them made their way to the Balkans during the conflict in the early-to-mid 1990s. It had several "original" features that made it a different (and cheaper) design to sell; the MKEK Revolver Grenade Launcher is instead a 100% direct copy, and this would make unlikely that MILKOR MARKETING might have given them the license to make it for export. But the fact that MILKOR itself has launched in the past years several updated versions of the MGL (the last one of which, the MGL-140, has been introduced during the last APBI Show in May) makes us assume that MILKOR might be planning to drop the production of the "original" MGL design, which sure is still a very effective gun and had a great commercial success, but which is also dated back to the times of the Apartheid regime, thus now suffering for both pysical and moral age. -TECHNICAL SPECS CALIBRE: 40x46mm-SR low-speed grenades CAPACITY: 6 rounds, revolving cylinder WEIGHT: 5,85 Kilograms (Empty) LENGHT: 780 Millimetres (stock open) / 565 Millimetres (stock closed) WIDHT: 163 Millimetres average (265 Millimetres with open stock / 305 Millimetres with closed stock) BARREL LENGHT: 300 Millimetres, steel-made barrel GROOVES: 6 Right Helis, 1200 Millimetres / step RATE OF FIRE: 6 rounds in less than 10 seconds MUZZLE VELOCITY 76 Metres Per Second MAXIMUM RANGE: 400 Metres (standard ammunitions) / 100 Metres (training ammunitions) / 30 Metres (demolition ammunitions) EFFECTIVE RANGE: 375 Metres for sight targets / 150 Metres for point targets -COMPANY CONTACT INFO MKEK (Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu) - General Directorate Tandoðan 06330 ANKARA / TURKEY TELEPHONE: +90 (312) 296 10 00 FAX: +90 (312) 222 22 41-223 01 40 URL: http://www.mkek.gov.tr E-MAIL: mkek@mkek.gov.tr Photos and information from: Pierangelo Tendas

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