It is intended for deployment against targets including parked aircraft, telecommunication masts, power lines, missile sites, radar installations, refineries, satellite dishes, gun emplacements, bunkers, and personnel, using a range of specialised projectiles.

This rapid progress was made possible by Neophytou's expertise in the field of recoil reduction systems, having worked on helicopter turrets in the past.

However, following allegations that it had paid kickbacks to secure a deal for anti-materiel rifles, Denel was blacklisted by the Indian government.

Subsequently, the Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT) developed an indigenous anti-material rifle called Vidhwansak, which borrowed heavily from the Denel NTW-20.

[7] When it became known in August 2013 that a South African Special Forces officer had used this weapon to make what was then the sixth longest recorded sniper kill at 2,125 m (2,324 yd), it generated a lot of popular and media interest.