The IWI ARAD assault rifle (Israel)

The ARAD assault rifle was introduced in 2019 by the Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) company. Since that time, it has been adopted by the Israel’s own Yamam anti-terrorism unit, as well as by the Brazilian Sao Paolo military police and certain Special Operations units of the militaries of Chile and Ecuador. It is interesting to note that the ARAD rifle is the fourth different design of the same class, concurrently produced by the IWI for domestic and foreign military and law enforcement markets. It is directly competing with or complementing the X95, Carmel and Galil Ace rifles from the same manufacturer, allowing its maker to cover all most popular bases on the modern assault rifle field. The name ARAD of the new rifle presumably comes from the similarly named city in the Southern Israel.

The IWI ARAD assault rifle

The IWI ARAD assault rifle is a modular weapon closely based on the highly popular AR-15 / M16 platform, with some improvements added to the basic design. To start with, the ARAD rifle features the short stroke gas piston operating system. It has a three position gas regulator with settings for the normal conditions, shooting with a suppressor, and shooting under adverse conditions (or with a higher rate of fire under normal conditions, using more gas from the barrel to power the action). Another departure from the basic “AR-15” system is the easily detachable barrel, which can be removed and replaced by the end user in a matter of minutes, using a special barrel nut wrench. As of moment of this writing, barrels for the ARAD rifle are available in two calibers (5.56x45mm and .300 Blk) and in several lengths, ranging from 11.5 to 16 inches. Other features of the weapon include the ambidextrous controls such as safety / fire selector, magazine release and bolt hold-open release, as well as the integrated Picatinny rail on the top of the monolithic upper receiver. Trigger is of the two-stage type for improved accuracy. The shoulder stock is of the now-common M4 carbine type, adjustable for the length. Ammunition is fed from various STANAG compatible magazines.