NTW-20

The NTW-20 is a South African anti-materiel rifle or large-caliber sniper rifle, developed by Denel Mechem in the 1990s. It is intended for deployment against targets including parked aircraft, telecommunication masts, power lines, missile sites, radar installations, refineries, satellite dishes, gun emplacements, bunkers and personnel, using a range of specialized projectiles. As with other weapons of this type, it can also be used for counter sniping and ordnance disposal. The weapon was designed by Tony Neophytou (co-designer of the Neostead combat shotgun). Development of the system began in August 1995 under the "Aerotek" name and a working prototype was ready for testing four and a half months later. This rapid progress was made possible by Neophytou's expertise in the field of recoil reduction systems, having worked on helicopter turrets in the past. In order to further reduce the amount of research and development, the project recycled the barrel, bolt and barrel extension of the existing Vektor GA1 automatic cannon. It was put into production by Denel Land Systems in two versions; 20 x 110 and 20 x 82. The latter model is also available in 14.5 x 114 and conversion between the calibers can be done in the field by swapping the barrel and bolt assembly. The significantly larger 20 x 110 model cannot be converted to another caliber. The rifle was accepted into service with the South African National Defense Force in 1998.