In Fiction[]
Appearance[]
Although SR-88A is a Singapore rifle she has shoulder length blonde hair, which may be a nod to the fact that the SR-88A's lower receiver is extremely close in design to an M16 and the upper receiver is almost an exact copy of the AR-18 (a contribution from Sterling). Her eyes are lavender in color.
Personality[]
Not much is know of her personality because she only has one speaking line in the manga (which is in nano to say "We are side characters"), however a few things can be inferred. She is always seen with SAR-21 and being they are both guns from the same country and same company (CIS, which is now STKinetics) they more than likely share a close relationship.
She also is almost always ready to help the girls of Seishou in their endeavors. SR-88A was there when she was needed for the battle of Atami and for the battle of Hakone.
In Real Life[]
History[]
After the commercial and military failure of the SAR-80 to take over the standard issue M-16's of the Singapore Armed Force, or any military contracts for that matte, CIS went back to the drawing board. For the better part of a decade CIS worked on an improved version of the SAR-80 that they hoped could replace the M16 for Singapore and be marketed to military and law enforcement groups worldwide. The end result of this was the SR-88, released in 1988.
With the selling points of STANAG compatibility, and offering versions that had folding or fixed stocks, or shortened barrels, the Singapore Military was interested and ordered a few thousand of the SR88 and the improved SR 88A's for testing and use. To CIS disdain, the SR-88/A never took hold and it would not be until the SAR-21's release that the Singapore Military would abandon their M16s for something new.
Performance[]
Being that this rifle is a combination of the M16 and AR-18, it retains much of their pluses and minuses. Overall the rifle is considered reliable and of average weight, with the retractable stocks giving it greater mobility. However, the advantages are not greater than a standard M16, which itself is lighter than the SR-88A. This may be one factor for the SR-88A not taking hold within Singapore.
Users[]
Papua New Guinea:
- Papua New Guinea Defense Force
Singapore:
- Singapore Armed Force
Slovenia
- Slovenian Armed Forces
Solomon Islands
- Royal Solomon Islands Police Forces
Availability[]
ST Kinetics (formerly CIS), is the only company to beat HK in the "we hate the civilian market" game by not only completely ignoring the civilian market, but not selling many of their rifles outside of Singapore at all. So that leaves the question, how do you get one? Well you can't get a complete one for sure but since this rifle is heavily based on two other rifles (the M16 and AR-18) there are some people who have been basically making there own version of it using SAR-80 parts kits and some special made parts. So if you have the technical skill, the time, and a small pile of cash you wish to basically light on fire, you can have this rifle in your collection.