Beretta NARP 5.56 mm assault rifle. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Beretta Defense Technologies (BDT) has told Janes that it intends to put forward its New Assault Rifle Project (NARP) and Sako rifle for the British Army's Project Grayburn, a programme to replace the SA80.
Speaking at the Enforce Tac 2025 defence exhibition, held from 24 to 26 February in Nuremburg, Germany, Jack Cadman, head of military and law enforcement sales for BDT, said the NARP, developed by Beretta, and a new series of AR-15 pattern rifles currently being developed by Finnish manufacturer Sako, part of BDT, would both be included in BDT's proposal.
NARP
Unveiled at the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2023 defence exhibition in London, the NARP is a short-stoke gas piston-operated rifle. Built with an upper and lower receiver, the recoil spring assembly is housed directly in the upper receiver, allowing for the use of a side-folding stock. Both 7.62×51 and .300 Blackout versions of the NARP platform are in development.
Sako
The Sako rifles, whose official commercial designations have yet to be disclosed, are AR-10 and AR-15 pattern rifles. Both platforms are being developed with either the traditional Stoner gas expanding system or a short-stroke gas piston. The rifles are being developed to meet the joint needs of Finland and Sweden to replace their respective stocks of current in-service rifles. In 2023 the Finnish Defence Forces adopted the M23, a Sako AR-10 pattern rifle, to replace the RK 95, SVD, and TKIV 85 rifles in Finnish service. In 2024 Sweden began taking delivery of the AK24, a short-barrelled 5.56 mm Sako rifle. Both the AK24 and M23 have a short-stroke gas piston system.
Cadman said
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