High Precision Systems, a company that's part of Russia's state-owned defense corporation, Rostec, plans to start mass production of the new Astarta anti-material rifle within 4 months, a corporate rep told reporters at the Army-2023 forum.
"We are laying the groundwork for production ... we plan to start mass-producing this rifle in four months. For the first time, under special military operation conditions we have sped up [the process], creating the rifle, and preparing production," he said at the presentation.
According to the company, the Astarta outperformed the American Barrett rifle in terms of accuracy fourfold in comparative tests.
"This rifle in our first tests showed groups of five shots of 1.5 cm - that's unique. From a distance of 100 meters. Considering that the caliber here is 12.7, that means the bullet went into a hole. One after another," the representative said.
The Army-2023 military forum, being held in Kubinka near Moscow, has Russian military-industrial innovations out on display. The 2023 edition of the annual forum is running from August 14 to 20.