The FAMAS is the standard assault rifle of the French military. FAMAS is an acronym for the French words "Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de St-Etienne" (Assault Rifle by St-Etienne Arms Factory). The Saint Étienne arms factory is a member of the French government-owned GIAT Industries complex. FAMAS rifle Copyright © SIRPA (French defense ministry press services) original page This work is copyrighted. ... U.S. Military 5. ... STANAG is the NATO abbreviation for Standardization Agreement, which set up processes, procedures, terms and conditions for common military or technical procedures between the member countries of the alliance. ... Avtomat Fedorova model 1916. ... Organization The French armed forces are divided into four branches: Army (Armée de Terre), including Chasseurs Alpins French Foreign Legion Marine troops light aviation (ALAT - Aviation Légére de lArmée de Terre) engineers (Génie) including Paris Fire Brigade Navy (Marine Nationale), including Naval Air naval... Location within France Saint-Étienne is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km. ... GIAT Industries (formerly known as Groupement des Industries de lArmée de Terre, Group of the Industries of the ground Army) is a French government-owned weapon manufacturer. ...

Development and Production

Development of the FAMAS began in 1967 under the direction of Paul Tellie. After several years of research and development, the first FAMAS prototype was completed in 1971. French military evaluation of the rifle began in 1972, but was not completed until 1978 when the French military finally accepted the rifle as the standard French combat weapon.

After adoption, the FAMAS (designated FAMAS F1) effectively replaced the ageing MAS-49. Production of the rifle was set into full swing soon afterwards. Approximately 400,000 FAMAS F1 assault rifles were produced after which GIAT Industries replaced the FAMAS F1 with the FAMAS G1. The G1 included several minor improvements such as redesigned grips and an enlarged trigger guard. The G1 proved to be an intermediate design, however, as it was soon replaced by the FAMAS G2. The G2 appeared in 1994, and was purchased and adopted by the French Navy in 1995. The French Army followed suite soon thereafter, adopting the rifle itself later. The MAS 49 is a French designed semiautomatic rifle that was intended to replace the motley collection of aging French bolt-action rifles and captured German rifles after the end of WWII. The MAS (which stands for Manufacture dArmes St. ...

Design

The FAMAS assault rifle is of bullpup configuration and allows for ambidextrous usage. The ammunition is stored in a magazine behind the trigger and the receiver is housed in strong plastic. The rifle uses lever delayed blowback action, a system developed by Hungarian designer Paul de Kiraly. Fire rate is controlled by the selector just forward of the trigger. The selector has three settings: safe, single shot, and fully automatic fire. Another selector allowing for three-shot burst fire is located under the housing and behind the magazine. Bullpup refers to a firearm configuration in which the firearm action (or mechanism) and magazine are located behind the trigger, increasing the barrel length relative to the overall weapon length, thus permitting shorter weapons for the same barrel length or longer barrels for the same weapon length. ...

The FAMAS F1 and G1, the original variants, weigh 3.6 kilograms and were designed to use French-made ammunition. This proprietary French ammunition is of a different caliber then NATO's standard ammunition, and therefore, is incompatible with standard NATO weaponry. The FAMAS G2 weighs 3.8 kilograms and uses the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO cartridge. The G2 is designed to accommodate the STANAG magazine as used by the M16, and also has a full length handguard to allow easy use with gloves. U.S. Military 5. ... STANAG is the NATO abbreviation for Standardization Agreement, which set up processes, procedures, terms and conditions for common military or technical procedures between the member countries of the alliance. ... Categories: Military stubs | Firearm components ... An M16A2 rifle M16 is the US Military designation for the Armalite AR-15, an assault rifle which fires NATO standard 5. ...

Service

The FAMAS saw service in 1991 in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm and in other various peacekeeping missions afterwards. French military troops found the weapon to be reliable and trustworthy in combat. The FAMAS is affectionately known as Le Clairon ("the bugle", because of its shape) amongst French troops. At the time of this article, an improved version of the FAMAS is to be integrated into the FELIN system. See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ...

Other images

FAMAS rifle Copyright © SIRPA (French defense ministry press services) original page This work is copyrighted. ...

FAMAS rifle Copyright © SIRPA (French defense ministry press services) original page This work is copyrighted. ...

External links

• Buddy Hinton French FAMAS Picture Collection (http://www.sturmgewehr.com/bhinton/FAMAS/)

See also

• Bullpup
• FRF2
• GIAT Industries
• MAS-49
• Buddy Hinton FAMAS Collection (http://www.sturmgewehr.com/bhinton/FAMAS/)