The Howa Type 20 (20式5.56mm小銃 20-shiki 5.56mm shōjū)^{[note 1]} is a Japanese assault rifle currently in the prototype stage. It is slated to replace the Howa Type 89 in Japanese service.^[1]

History

A patent for the weapon was filed in 2015 by Kazuhiro Kuroda and Kōji Iwata and granted in 2016.^[2] The Howa 5.56 was trialed from 2017 to 2019 to find a rifle that could replace the Howa Type 89 which was regarded as going obsolete. The weapon competed against the Heckler & Koch HK416 and FN SCAR-L; the Howa design was selected as the best of the three designs.^[1]

The rifle is intended to enter service around 2020.^[3]

Design Details

The rifle appears to be very similar to the FN SCAR in terms of function and appearance.

See also

• Howa Type 89

Notes

v • d • e Japanese Small Arms Pistols and revolvers Meiji Type 26 · Hino-Komuro · Nambu Type 4 · Nambu Type 14 · Hamada Type 1/2 · Inagaki · Kuwabara · Sugiura · Nambu Type 94 · New Nambu M57A · New Nambu M57B · New Nambu M60 · National Defence Pistol Submachine guns Tokyo Arsenal Model 1927 · Tokyo Arsenal Model 1928 · Nambu Type 1 · Nambu Type 2 · Nambu Type 100 · SCK-65/66 · Minebea PM-9 Bolt-action rifles Murata · Arisaka (Type 2 · Type 30 · Type 35 · Type 38 · Type 44 · Type 97 · Type 99 · Type I) · Howa M1500 · National Defence Rifle Self-loading rifles Hino-Komuro · Kido · Kokura · Type Kō · Type Otsu · Type Hei · Type 4 Assault rifles Howa R1/2 · Howa R3 · Howa Type 64 · Howa Type 89 · Howa Type 20 Shotguns Miroku 800 · SKB 1300 · Yamamoto Auto Pointer · Miroku Auto-5 Light Twelve Light machine guns Type 11 · Type 96 · Type 99 · Type Hei · Kawamura 5M · Kawamura 7M · Sumitomo NTK-62 · Nambu training machine gun Machine guns Type 3 · Koishikawa Type 92 · Hino Type 92 · Type 93 · Type 97 · Type 100 Anti-tank rifles Type 97 automatic cannon Flare guns Type 10 flare pistol · Type 90 flare pistol Grenade launchers Howa Type 96 Rocket launchers Type 4 · Type 5

References