Indumil unveils new details on Colombian rifle

Indumil unveiled its new Colombian-made rifle at the Expodefensa 2025 conference in Bogotá, Colombia. (Erich Saumeth Cadavid)

The Colombian company Indumil unveiled its new assault rifle at the Expodefensa 2025 conference in Bogotá on 1 December.

The new rifle is lighter and more modular than Colombia's standard-issue Galil ACE 21-22-23, its two Indumil designers Cecilia Puín and John Freddy Pérez told Janes in an interview on 3 December. Its name will be chosen from three potential options – Cóndor, Ares, or Facoe.

This project will continue with the manufacture of 50 units of the weapon for testing. After the feedback phase, preparations will begin for production of an initial batch, estimated for the second half of 2026, Colombian officials have said.

The design process began in 2020 with an analysis of potential technology solutions, Puín and Pérez said. Then the company produced 3D models for approximately three years to generate the first functional designs. These rifles underwent testing and evaluation by the armed forces, whose feedback led to adjustments, including the adoption of a central loading system – due to its similarity to the M4 rifle pattern – instead of the traditional system used by previous models.

One of the criticisms of the IWI Galil ACE 21-22-23 is its weight and vulnerability to corrosion, stemming from the abundance of metal parts, said the designers. Indumil opted to use high-strength polymers, reserving metal reinforcements only in critical areas such as anchors and stress points. This reduced the weapon's final weight by approximately 15%. A plastic cover was also added to prevent corrosion and simplify maintenance in jungle, humid, coastal, or other harsh environments.