French Army selects HK416 to replace FAMAS

Thomas D'Arcy McGee

Thomas D'Arcy McGee

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French Army selects HK416 to replace FAMAS

Nicholas de Larrinaga, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

27 September 2016

The French Army's new service rifle will be the Heckler & Koch HK416F, the French defence procurement agency (the DGA) announced on 23 September.

France has a long history of firearms innovations yet this has withered on the vine, with the HK416F set to be the first French standard-issue rifle bought from abroad. Not only will the German rifle be the first foreign rifle used by France, but the selection also sees the French Army turn its back on bullpup rifle designs.

The HK416F is to replace the French Army's existing FAMAS bullpup assault rifles, which first entered service in 1979. According to the DGA the first deliveries of HK416F rifles are due to begin in 2017, and will run for over ten years.

France's military programming law (LPM), calls for the delivery of 100,000 new service rifles by 2019. France currently possesses about 400,000 FAMAS rifles in both the F1 version and upgraded G1 variant. Cuts to the size of the French Army mean that few HK416F will likely be purchased than current FAMAS stocks however. The initial contract with Heckler & Koch is expected to include 5,340 rifles plus parts and accessories.

The DGA launched the effort to replace the FAMAS - the Arme Individuelle Future (AIF) programme - in May 2014. This tender called for the delivery of 90,000 new rifles, half of which would be in a short-barrelled configuration (AIF Courte). The DGA was evaluating five foreign bidders at its test site in Bourges when IHS Jane's visited in April. Purchasing a foreign rifle had become inevitable after the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne (MAS) factory closed in 2002, two years after FAMAS production finally ended.

The 'F' designation for the HK416 is not a standard one and likely refers to French-specified alterations to the base model.

http://www.heckler-koch.com/de/pres...lects-the-hk416-as-its-new-assault-rifle.html

After an extensive evaluation lasting more than one year, the French Direction Générale de l’Armement has selected the HK416 as the successor of the famous "FAMAS" assault rifle.

Heckler & Koch GmbH is honored and proud to announce that it has been officially awarded last week by the French Direction Générale de l’Armement the contract for the supply of the future French assault rifle. Known initially as the "Arme Individuelle Future" (AIF), the selected weapon is a variant of the battle-proven HK416A5 assault rifle.

The HK416 will replace the well-known "FAMAS" assault rifle which is no longer produced, bringing modularity and flexibility to the needs of the French military.

The contract calls for the supply over a period of 15 years of up to 102,000 5.56 x 45 mm NATO rifles, 10,767 40 x 46 mm grenade launchers, ammunition, spare parts, support services and accessories. The weapon will be available in two versions with different barrel lengths depending on the user mission and will equip all Army, Navy and Air Force personnel.

After a technical evaluation which pushed all competitors to their technical limits, the HK416 was a top performer and the cornerstone of a high performance and fully integrated weapon system.

The HK416 is a robust, reliable and accurate weapon produced in Oberndorf am Neckar, in Germany’s Black Forest region, using the finest materials including the best French steels which provide its legendary robustness. It is a user-friendly weapon that has proven its capabilities on military operations in numerous occasions.

Heckler & Koch GmbH, in cooperation with its French subsidiary Heckler & Koch France SAS, is fully committed to providing the best service and support to the French armed forces for the next thirty years.
 
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My initial reaction hasn't changed. I mean, all recent history and two world wars aside......why on earth would you outsource something like this?? What happens if Germany decides that it doesn't like what France is doing with their rifles? What happens if making rifles for Germany becomes more important than exporting them?? There are so many reasons why this is a terrible idea....or maybe its just me. But still....
 
ThatM305Guy said:
My initial reaction hasn't changed. I mean, all recent history and two world wars aside......why on earth would you outsource something like this?? What happens if Germany decides that it doesn't like what France is doing with their rifles? What happens if making rifles for Germany becomes more important than exporting them?? There are so many reasons why this is a terrible idea....or maybe its just me. But still....
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They aren't outsourcing - both countries are EU members, it's like BC buying rifles made in Alberta. Sovereignty in Europe is essentially dead. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the French were told to pick either the Beretta or the HK, there's no way they were going to end up with anything but an EU rifle.
 
That stuff has played itself out. I cannot see them being combatants again, pretty much ever, unless something absolutely extraordinary occurs. Besides, anything can be reverse engineered to fulfill its purposes. Germans utilized the US bazooka into the panzerfaust.

ThatM305Guy said:
My initial reaction hasn't changed. I mean, all recent history and two world wars aside......why on earth would you outsource something like this?? What happens if Germany decides that it doesn't like what France is doing with their rifles? What happens if making rifles for Germany becomes more important than exporting them?? There are so many reasons why this is a terrible idea....or maybe its just me. But still....
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Its too bad, the French were always very innovative with their army small arms, I guess it ends an era of innovation lasting more than 150 years
 
The French have been quite innovative in their arms production, but I do think that mentality has gone the way of the Dodo in France. HK416 is a step in the right direction IMHO.
 
enefgee said:
They aren't outsourcing - both countries are EU members, it's like BC buying rifles made in Alberta. Sovereignty in Europe is essentially dead. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the French were told to pick either the Beretta or the HK, there's no way they were going to end up with anything but an EU rifle.
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Not exactly....the EU isn't bullet proof, as the UK clearly proved earlier this year. Who knows? (albeit unlikely) maybe one day France is denied exit by an increasingly German controlled EU?. Again, not exactly a probable scenario. But my point is that anything can happen. Having the tools on hand necessary for something as basic as the defence of your nation should be a no brainer....Its not because of Germany specifically, just out of principal.
 
an increasingly German controlled EU

The French were initially strongly opposed to the EU, cause they feared this would happen.

Grizz
 
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