New Rifle for French Army

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The French army has chosen the German-made Heckler & Koch HK 416 carbine to replace, by 2017 according to an official statement, its iconic FAMAS assault rifle, which has been used for over 40 years.

Heckler & Koch, the German manufacturer, will deliver 100,000 rifles as well as accessories, ammunition and provide weapon training to all parts of the French military. The value of the 10-year contract is estimated to be around €300 million.

The HK 416 won an EU-wide tender for the French bid. It was competing against other competitors, such as the ARX160 made by the Italian company Beretta, the MCX manufactured by the German-Swiss company SIG Sauer, the VHS2 made by the Croatian firm HS Produkt and the SCAR, manufactured by Belgium’s FN Herstal.

The FAMAS, known for its distinctive design, is incompatible with NATO standard ammunition, along with the age of the current rifles used by the military seeing as it begun it’s service in 1978, and starred during the gulf war and combat in afghanistan.

The HK 416 was originally designed by the Heckler & Koch as an improvement based on the Colt M4 family issued to the US military. Said to be far more reliable than the American analogue, the rifle has been tested by the United States military and is in use with some law enforcement agencies and special operations units such as Delta Force, FBI Hostage Rescue Team and US Border Patrol.

According to rt.com, a modified variant of the HK 416 has also undergone testing by the US Marine Corps as the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. Except France, Norwegian armed forces are so far the only operator that uses the HK 416 as its standard service rifles.