The Qatar Armed Force (QAF) is expected to receive the first locally produced ARX160A2 and ARX200 modular rifles in the second half of 2019, Defence Blog reported.

A new joint venture, called the Bindig, the Qatari word for rifle, between Qatar’s Barzan Holdings and Italian gun-maker Beretta will supply the new locally produced ARX series of rifles including the 5.56x45mm ARX160 and the 7.62x51mm ARX200.

It is expected that the Bindig joint venture will supply about 30 thousand new rifles starting in 2019 for the Qatar Armed Forces and other security and government agencies.

Qatar has signed an industrial Joint Venture (JV) agreement with Italy for the establishment of a weapons production facility in Doha at the three-day Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX) 2018.

The JV was signed by officials of Beretta Group and Barzan Holdings, according to Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a press conference held on board the ITS Carlo Margottini at Hamad Port.

“I would like to underline that the agreement is extremely important because it is the first time that this type of joint venture was established in an Arab country and Beretta chose Qatar for this project,” Salzano pointed out.

Under the deal, Beretta will hold a minority stake in the joint venture, which will receive technology transfer from Beretta Holding Group and will build a manufacturing facility in Doha.

According to the military experts, the new jointly produced modular rifles will replace M16s and M4s that were currently used by the Qatari military.