A Turkish state weapons factory head appeared in court on Thursday and was remanded in custody, accused of selling weapons designs to a private United States company, a judicial source said.

The defendant, Mustafa Tanriverdi, who headed a small arms weapon factory for Turkey's state Machinery and Chemical Industry Institution, is accused of selling design and production plans for an MP-5 sub-machine gun for 200,000 Turkish liras (US$70,000) and a MPT-76 national infantry rifle for $300,000 to an official working for a US firm.

Tanriverdi was arrested in Ankara on charges of exploiting state secrets and disloyalty to state services.

Last month, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was presented with a prototype of the national infantry rifles, set to be mass produced starting this year.