FAMAS

Origins

In the early 1970s the French army was still carrying the 7.5mm MAS-49/56 self-loading rifle, and as other armies moved to the 5.56mm cartridge France decided to build a modern assault rifle of its own rather than buy one abroad. A team at the state Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne (MAS) led by Paul Télie began work in 1967, and the rifle was adopted in 1978 as the FAMAS F1. Some 400,000 were made for the French armed forces (see French Arms & Weapons).

Design & Construction

The FAMAS is a bullpup: the magazine and action sit in the buttstock behind the pistol grip, so the rifle has a 19-inch barrel in an overall length of under thirty inches, making it handy in vehicles and helicopters. It works by lever-delayed blowback, a system derived from the French AAT-52 machine gun, in which a lever slows the bolt's opening until pressure has dropped. It fires very quickly, at about 900 to 1,000 rounds per minute, and offers semi-automatic, three-round burst and full-automatic fire. The long carrying handle protects the sights and gave the rifle its nickname, "le Clairon." The ejection can be switched from right to left so that left-handed soldiers can shoot it, a necessity in a bullpup, and a folding bipod is built in. The F1 took its own 25-round magazine; the G2 version of 1994 took standard NATO STANAG magazines. The lever-delayed action is sensitive to ammunition, and the rifle works best with steel-cased French rounds.

Combat Use

The FAMAS was issued first to paratroopers and elite units and then across the army, where it replaced both the MAS-49/56 rifle and the MAT-49 submachine gun, since a single compact rifle could now do both jobs. It went to war with France's interventions across Africa, in Chad in the 1980s, and in the Gulf War of 1991 with the Division Daguet, including the French Foreign Legion's regiments. It served in Lebanon, in Bosnia and Kosovo with UN and NATO forces, in Côte d'Ivoire, in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2012 and in the Sahel campaign in Mali from 2013. Soldiers liked its compactness and accuracy, but the rifle's age, parts wear and ammunition sensitivity showed in the long wars of the 2000s.

Legacy

In 2016 France chose the German HK416 to replace it, and the HK416F began reaching units in 2017; the FAMAS stays in service with some units and reserve forces as the changeover continues. It was one of the first bullpup rifles adopted as a standard service weapon by a major army, along with the Austrian Steyr AUG, and one of the most recognizable rifles of the late Cold War. Because very few were ever exported to civilian markets, genuine FAMAS rifles are rare outside France, and its silhouette is known to many through films and video games.