engineering industry defence commercial vehicles automotive services founded 1967 as the chartered industries of singapore cis headquarters singapore key people ravinder singh president st kinetics 1 products ammunition firearms weapons ifv apv vehicle mro services emergency vehicles distribution vehicles construction equipments testing services revenue s 1.48 b 2013 number of employees 7 000 2013 parent st engineering website 2 singapore technologies kinetics ltd st kinetics in singapore is a strategic business area of st engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles . in 2000 st engineering acquired the chartered industries of singapore cis through st automotive a subsidiary of st engineering and the new company was named st kinetics . given the initial charter of cis to support the local defence requirements the main defence customer of st kinetics remains as the singapore armed forces saf . besides manufacturing small arms and munitions some of st kinetics key military products include the sar 21 assault rifle the bionix afv the bronco attc and the terrex apc . these weapons and ammunition are often made to u.s. or nato specifications for export . the company holds a number of subsidiaries overseas mainly in the u.s. canada china and india . recent acquisitions between 2004 and 2009 have seen new construction equipment specialised bodies and trailers for urban services being brought into st kinetics stable of products which was previously dominated by military weapons and platforms . together with the other st engineering companies st kinetics is part of the singapore defence ecosystem of users developers and producers in support of the third generation saf . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 1967 1986 rapid growth and expansion 1.2 1987 1996 reformation 1.3 1997 present reinvention 2 ordnance 2.1 m16s1 5.56 mm assault rifle 2.2 ultimax 100 5.56 mm section automatic weapon 2.3 sar 21 5.56 assault rifle 2.4 bullpup multirole combat rifle bmcr 2.5 conventional multirole combat rifle cmcr 2.6 compact personal weapon cpw 2.7 40 mm weapon and munition systems 2.8 50mg machine gun 2.9 120 mm super rapid advanced mortar system srams 2.10 fh 2000 field howitzer 2.11 pegasus 155mm lightweight howitzer 2.12 primus self propelled artillery 2.13 bionix armoured fighting vehicle 2.14 bronco all terrain tracked carrier 2.15 terrex av81 8 8 afv 2.16 other military and para military products 3 commercial equipment 3.1 construction vehicles 3.2 distribution vehicles 3.3 urban and emergency vehicles 4 automotive services 4.1 mro services for military vehicles 4.2 component servicing 5 references 6 external links 6.1 subsidiaries 6.2 joint ventures 6.3 product brands history edit 1967 1986 rapid growth and expansion edit cis was originally incorporated on 27 january 1967 when it started out by producing ordnance for the saf . 3 cis first product was the 5.56 45mm nato round ; other cis products include the license built colt m16s1 equivalent to the m16a1 and locally designed weapons such as the ultimax 100 saw the sar 80 and the sr 88 assault rifles . several other companies were formed under cis over the span of the next 2 decades with the expansion of the defence business such as unicorn international ui in 1971 ordnance & development engineering ode in 1973 singapore test services sts in 1980 and chartered chemicals cci in 1982 . shortly after the formation of cis the defence minister dr goh keng swee went on to set up several other government linked defence industries to provide indigenous support for the saf . one of them was singapore automotive engineering sae . sae was to support automotive related services for the saf and its first immediate task was to service and maintain a fleet of v200 armored vehicles . 4 by 1982 amidst a young thriving singapore economy and having built up its capability in automotive servicing and standards sae saw the potential in the commercial sector and decided to incorporate sae inspection centre for vehicle inspection and servicing . the following year singapore commuters a taxi service was formed . 1987 1996 reformation edit on 20 august 1991 sae was publicly listed on the singapore stock exchange . 3 in the same year sae was renamed singapore technologies automotive st auto . sta detroit diesel allison was formed to take on the maintenance of the detroit diesel engines and allison transmission used in the bionix as well as to distribute the detroit diesel parts in the asian region . 5 singapore commuters was merged with singapore airport services ltd sabs taxi ltd and singapore bus service taxi pte ltd sbs taxi pte ltd to form citicab in april 1995 . 6 by 1996 cis through its various subsidiaries were producing various ordnance for the saf and for export overseas . chartered ammunition industries cai was producing small medium and large caliber ammunition explosives pyrotechnics and anti tank weapons . ode was producing medium to large caliber weapon systems mortars medium caliber cannons fh88 fh2000 . chartered firearms industries cfi was producing infantry and crew served weapons including the sr88a assault rifle ultimax 100 7.62 mm gpmg the 40 mm grenade launchers and the 40 50 cupola weapon system . allied ordnance of singapore aos was offering a range of advanced low level air defence equipment including the 40 mm l70 air defense gun system and missile and optronic fire control systems . for the automotive business st auto took on the amx 13 light tank upgrading project and refurbished the m113 apc commando v100 and v200 armored vehicles larc v amphibious . st auto also signed a contract with the saf to overhaul maintain and repair its military ground equipment . singapore test services by then was offering specialized tests and inspection services to both military and civilian customers . 7 1997 present reinvention edit in 1997 st auto together with singapore technologies aerospace ltd st aerospace singapore technologies electronics ltd st electronics and singapore technologies marine ltd st marine were merged to form the present st engineering . 8 in october 1999 st engineering acquired cis at s 78 m. 9 st auto and cis were merged in feb 2000 to form st kinetics . 10 the following year st kinetics reorganised itself into 3 divisions namely automotive ; munitions and weapons ; and services trading and others . 11 a series of flagship products were developed by the early 21st century including the sar21 assault rifle the primus 155mm self propelled artillery gun the pegasus 155 mm lightweight howitzer the bronco all terrain tracked carrier and the terrex 8 8 armoured personnel carrier . st kinetics went on to invest in several companies overseas to enhance its engineering capabilities . an example was the acquisition of silvatech industries inc in july 2006 a canadian company specialising in forestry equipment and renaming it as kinetics drive solutions kds in august 2006 12 to focus on the infinitely variable transmissions ivt that silvatech had developed for its forestry equipment . 2003 was the year st kinetics decided to venture into the new commercial vehicles business to leverage on the engineering and fabrication capabilities it has acquired through the military vehicle projects . that year st kinetics went into an equal share joint venture with beijing heavy duty truck plant bhdtp to form the beijing zhonghuan kinetics heavy vehicles co. ltd bzk . 13 in 2005 st kinetics acquired specialized vehicles corporation in u.s. along with its hackney and kidron brands 2 market leaders in the u.s. beverage truck bodies business . 14 in the same year st kinetics signed a 60 40 joint venture with guiyang city industrial investment holding corporation giihc to form guizhou jonyang kinetics co. ltd. gjk that manufactures excavators 14 and set up star guangzhou and star hangzhou . in june 2006 st kinetics wholly acquired leeboy through st engineering s u.s. subsidiary vt systems . leeboy is a u.s. industry leader in commercial class asphalt pavers . 15 in 2012 st kinetics reorganised itself into 2 business groups . the defence business group handles all military business and the commercial business group manages the commercial businesses . 16 on 5 march 2012 st kinetics is one of 6 companies that were blacklisted by india s ministry of defence for 10 years . 17 18 the company was issued a show cause notice before it was blacklisted . 19 on 25 may 2012 st kinetics filed a writ petition in the high court of delhi against the indian ministry of defence mod and the indian ordnance factory board ofb challenging the debarment order . 20 21 in february 2013 st kinetics appointed tata international as its distributor in africa thus expanding its distribution and customer support network for both its leeboy and trxbuild brands in 13 other countries . 22 in the same year st kinetics established 2 new overseas subsidiaries in brazil and myanmar . in july the company acquired technicae projetos e servicos automotivos for brl1 .04 million . this acquisition will expand the company s reach into brazil s growing defence business . 23 established in november 2013 the wholly owned subsidiary kinetics automotive & specialty equipment co. ltd kase was set up in yangon myanmar . this myanmar subsidiary will serve as a platform to introduce and support st kinetics automotive and specialty vehicles products and services in myanmar s burgeoning economy as part of its plan to grow its commercial business in the country . 24 ordnance edit m16s1 5.56 mm assault rifle edit main article m16s1 the m16s1 is the m16a1 rifle made under license by st kinetics . it was the standard issue weapon of the singapore armed forces and being replaced by the newer sar 21 in most branches . it is however the standard issue weapon in reserve forces . ultimax 100 5.56 mm section automatic weapon edit main article ultimax the ultimax 100 was designed by l. james sullivan who previously had redesigned eugene stoner s 7.62 mm ar10 assault rifle into a smaller 5.56 mm version the m16 . the ultimax 100 was considered by experts as one of the most manageable light machine guns in the world . the ultimax 100 makes use of sullivan s patented counter recoil mechanism that makes the ultimax 100 not just a manageable full automatic weapon but a machine gun that can be aimed . 25 26 sar 21 5.56 assault rifle edit main article sar 21 in the mid 90s the saf decided to develop an indigenous rifle to replace the aging m16s1 most of which had been in service since the 70s . the other option was to procure new and more expensive weapons with the chief contender being the m16a2 . the advanced combat rifle was conceived and it eventually became the sar 21 . the sar 21 is the first production assault rifle of its class to incorporate a built in laser aiming device lad powered by a single aa battery as standard . the rifle incorporates various patented safety features such as a kevlar cheek plate and overpressure vent that protects the shooter in the unlikely event of a chamber explosion or catastrophic failure . it also has an integral 1.5 optical scope that is built into its carrying handle . the scope aids in target acquisition particularly under low light conditions . the scope is factory zeroed and requires minimal further zeroing to suit different users . this minimizes non training range time to zero the weapons and maximises live firing training hours . 27 28 see also sar 80 5.56 mm assault rifle sr 88 5.56 mm assault rifle bullpup multirole combat rifle bmcr edit main article bullpup multirole combat rifle the bullpup multirole combat rifle on display at the singapore airshow 2014 singapore technologies kinetics ltd unveiled the bullpup multirole combat rifle bmcr during the singapore airshow 2014 . 29 claimed to be the shortest bullpup rifle in the world with a 14.5 inch barrel the bmcr provides ease and comfort for soldiers to manipulate in tight spaces