26 Apr 2006
Leslie Andres and Dennis Wong
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PETALING JAYA: For four years, the staff at Vita Berapi (M) Sdn Bhd
have toiled at research and development.
But they will enjoy the fruits of their labour soon: The
little-known Malaysian company is all set to produce the first
made-in-Malaysia range of firearms.
Vita Berapi managing director Syed Yusoff Syed Abdullah said the
company would open its first firearms manufacturing factory in
Rawang by the end of the year.
He said the company hoped to supply its products to the Malaysian
armed forces and other security forces.
"We have seven types of weapons, ranging from sidearms to rifles
and even a pistol for sports.
"We believe that we can compete in the local and regional
markets."
The company had spent much on research and development of its
firearms, hiring designers from Belarus for the job.
Apart from the LP04 sports pistol, the company will also produce
the Hicap Compact automatic pistol, LP01 combat pistol, LP01A
automatic combat pistol (mini machine gun), LP02 sub machine gun,
LP03 sub machine gun (modified), LP06 rifle and LP05 sniper
rifle.
"The sports pistol was specially designed by a former Belarus
shooting champion who is now the head of design at Vita Berapi. The
pistol can hold up to five bullets at a time and is accurate up to
25 metres," Syed Yusoff said.
Vita Berapis pistol and combat pistol also have a range accuracy
of 25 metres, while the automatic combat pistols accuracy goes up
to 100 metres.
The range accuracy increases to 150 metres for both the submachine
guns, while the accuracy for the rifle and sniper rifle is 600
metres and 2.5km respectively.
Ammunition for the firearms are 9mm calibre, with the exception of
the rifle and sniper rifle, which use 5.56mm and 12.7mm calibre
bullets respectively.
The rifles can be equipped with scopes and night vision sights,
while the sniper rifle comes equipped with an optical sight.
Source: NST
