SAR 80

Rifle, 5.56 MM, SAR 88 / SR88
The SAR 88 assault rifle
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Singapore
Service history
Used by	See Users
Wars	Yugoslav Wars
Production history
Designer	Frank Waters
Designed	1976-1984
Manufacturer	Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now ST Kinetics)
No. built	20,000 (in Singapore), unknown number of exports
Variants	Standard, Grenade launcher
Specifications
Weight	3.7 kg (8.2 lb) (empty and without accessories)
Length	970 millimetres (38 in), 738 millimetres (29.1 in) with butt folded
Barrel length	459 millimetres (18 in)
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	600 round/min
Feed system	Various STANAG magazines
Sights	Iron sights

The Singapore Assault Rifle 80 (SAR 80) is an indigenously built, conventional assault rifle from Singapore.

In the late 1960s, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) adopted the AR-15 as their main service rifle. Due to difficulties in obtaining the rifles from the United States, the Singaporean government purchased a license to domestically manufacture the M16 rifle, which was then designated the M16S1. However, the domestic rifle requirements were not sufficient to allow Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now Singapore Technologies Kinetics) to economically maintain operations at its rifle factory. Export sales of the M16S1 were not a viable option. Due to the requirements of the license agreement, CIS had to request permission from Colt and the US State Department to allow any export sale, which they rarely granted.

In the early 1970s, Sterling engineers had developed their own 5.56 mm rifle design, the Light Automatic Rifle (LAR), but this had been shelved when Sterling acquired a manufacturing licence for the US-designed Armalite AR-18 assault rifle. While Sterling could not legally sublicense the AR-18, their LAR design was available. As a result, the new Singapore rifle design closely resembled the LAR with certain AR-18 elements.

The successor to this weapon is the SR-88.

It has been mistakenly reported in many foreign articles (including Jane's Guns Recognition Guide) that this weapon is the standard assault rifle of the Singapore Army. On the contrary, it was not widely adopted and Singapore soldiers were not trained on the weapon in large numbers.

Although consideration was given to replace the M16S1 with the SAR 80 due to its lower manufacturing costs and reliability, it was not well received because it was less user friendly and heavier. As a result, the M16S1 remained the mainstay of the Singapore Armed Forces until it was replaced by the SAR 21 in early 2000s. Only 20,000 SAR 80 were bought by Singapore, and most have been phased out in favor of the newer SAR 21. As of 2000, an undisclosed number of SAR 80 are still being stored in Singapore Police armouries and used in Army logistics units.