Japanese Army Picks New HP VP9, Howa Rifle Variants

By Chris Eger

The Japanese military on Monday released the details of their first new small arms since the 1980s: a new Howa modular rifle and a variant of the Heckler Koch VP9.
The Japanese Ground Self Defense Force, the country’s army, debuted what will be termed the Type 20 5.56 rifle and the SPF 9mm pistol in future use.
Developed by Towa Kogyo in Kiyosu, the Howa platform beat out designs tested by the JGSDF since 2014 to include at various times guns by HK, FN, SIG, and Steyr. The final designs were selected in December 2019 with the Howa rifle beating out the second-place HK416 and the SCAR-L, which placed third in the competition.
A modular rifle system similar to the HK433, Remington ACR, Radom GROT, or the SCAR, the Type 20 has a side-folding, five-position adjustable stock. Subsequent images released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense show the rifle to have ambi surface controls and a host of U.S. accessories including Magpul M-LOK slots with matching sling mount, an M3 windowed PMAG, and a BCM GUNFIGHTER Grip MOD3. It also has a B&T grip pod, a feature that is likely cringe-worthy to those on this side of the Pacific.
The Type 20 displayed has

Source: Guns.com