Chartered Firearms Industries
Ultimax 100 5.56 mm LMG

The Ultimax 100 which was first unveiled in 1983 was developed by the CFI, a subsidiary of CIS, using skills they had picked up from the licence production of the Colt M16 and Armalite AR-18. The result is the relatively light machine gun which is well suited to the light-stature personnel found in SAF.

The Ultimax 100 handles like an assault rifle thanks to the little recoil experienced while firing the weapon. This was made possible using a feature call "constant recoil". The workings of this feature is such that the breech block does not use the back plate of the receiver as a buffer; instead a system of springs absorbs the recoil forces to such an extend, the weapon can be fired from the shoulder! The trigger system has a lock-out mechanism which prevents accidental firing if the gun is improperly cocked or dropped. The cocking handle is designed so that it does not cycle with the bolt and is locked in the forward position. The barrels of the Ultimax 100 can be pre-zeroed and changed quickly by a soldier on the move. This is done by twisting on the carrying handle. Furthermore, the barrel can be rifled to fire either the US M193-type or the new NATO-type ammunition.

Although the Ultimax 100 permits the use of a 100-rounds drum, this gadget is seldom or never used by the armour units. The weapon is more often spotted using the 30-rounds magazine which is easily available and permits standardisation within the sub-units. The Ultimax 100 is classified as a light machine gun (LMG) but it is known as SAW (Section Automatic Weapon) amongst it�s local users; a term coined by it�s allocation of one unit per infantry section.