The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence Industry is manufacturing a new variant of its first small arm, the Istiglal sniper rifle, for the Azerbaijani armed forces.

The new rifle will have a different calibre and weight from the old version Istiglal IST-14.5, which weighs 15kg with a 12.7mm calibre.

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The sniper rifle variant weighs 20 kilograms and has a range of 3000m which can be used in mud, snow, dust and temperatures ranging from -50°C to +50°C.

The rifle was on display at the International Defence Industry fair (IDEF) conducted by the Turkish armed forces foundation in April 2009 in Istanbul.

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