FAMAS

This article is about the assault rifle. For award-giving body, see FAMAS Award. For other uses, see FAMAS (disambiguation).
FAMAS

The FAMAS F1
Type Bullpup assault rifle
Place of origin France
Service history
In service 1981–present
Used by See Users
Wars See Conflicts
Production history
Designer Paul Tellie[1]
Designed 1967–1971
Manufacturer Nexter
Unit cost F1: 1500 €
G2: 3000 €
Produced 1975–2000
Number built F1: 400,000
Variants
  • F1
  • G1
  • G2
  • FAMAS Export
  • FAMAS Civil
  • FAMAS Commando
Specifications
Weight
  • 3.61 kg (7.96 lb) ("FAMAS F1")
  • 3.8 kg (8.4 lb) ("FAMAS G2")
Length
  • 757 mm (29.8 in)
  • 965 mm (38.0 in) with bayonet
Barrel length
  • 488 mm (19.2 in) ("F1/G2")
  • 405 mm (15.9 in) ("G2 Commando")
  • 320 mm (12.6 in) ("G2 SMG")
  • 620 mm (24.4 in) ("G2 Sniper")
Cartridge 5.56×45mm NATO
Action Lever-delayed blowback
Rate of fire
  • 900–1000 rounds/min ("F1")
  • 1000–1100 rounds/min ("G2")
Muzzle velocity
  • 960 m/s (3,100 ft/s) ("F1")
  • 925 m/s (3,030 ft/s) ("G2")
Effective firing range
  • 300 m ("F1")
  • 450 m ("G2")
Maximum firing range 3200 meters
Feed system
  • 25-round detachable box magazine ("F1")
  • 30-round detachable box magazine (STANAG) ("G2")
Sights Rear aperture fitted with tritium night inserts, front post

The FAMAS (French: Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne or "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup-styled assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS located in Saint-Étienne, which is now a member of the French government-owned Nexter group. It is the service rifle of the French military.

History

The first French bullpup rifles were developed between 1946 and 1950 at the AME (Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse) and MAS, testing rounds such as .30 US Carbine, 7.92×33mm Kurz, 7.65×38mm (Made by Cartoucherie de Valence) and some other intermediate calibers. Since France was engaged in the First Indochina War at the time, and was also the second-largest contributor to NATO, the budgets for new types of weapons were reduced and priority was given to the modernization and production of existing service weapons. Nevertheless, approximately forty different prototypes were developed between 1952 and 1962, most of which were designed for the 7.62×51mm NATO round, notably the FA-MAS Type 62 (the bayonet of which is used on the FAMAS). However the round was not found to be suitable for any bullpup designs, and consequently, none were adopted, and the ideas were set aside.[2][3][4][5] MAS then began to manufacture under license the Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle and HK33 assault rifle in the 1960s and studies were reactivated to produce a weapon using the new .223/5.56mm round. But the idea to develop and use German weapons was out of question for many members of the French high command. General Marcel Bigeard, against the idea of using German weapons, visited the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne and asked the engineers to present him the different prototypes developed. He then chose, amongst different prototypes, what would become the FAMAS.

The FAMAS project began in 1967 under the direction of General Paul Tellié and the first prototype was completed in 1971, with French military evaluation of the rifle beginning in 1972.[1] When production problems delayed the general issue of the new rifles, and with the 1978 Battle of Kolwezi showing the immediate need for a more modern weapon, the French Army began searching for a temporary rifle to fill this need until the FAMAS came into full production. The Heckler & Koch HK33 was considered, and a batch of 1,200 examples were tested by infantry, airborne, mechanised and foreign troops and marines, but it was ultimately turned down in favour of the SIG SG 540, built under license by Manurhin, until enough FAMAS rifles were produced to begin general issue. The French military finally accepted the rifle in 1978 as the standard French combat weapon.

After adoption, the FAMAS F1 replaced the aging MAS 49/56 rifle and MAT-49 submachine gun, and approximately 400,000 FAMAS F1 assault rifles were produced, with production now complete. The F1 had many problems and was not completely reliable. For instance, the plastic pieces broke easily and the weapon jammed on occasions because of the poor disposable magazine concept. The first magazines were supposed to be disposables, but the budget of the French army never allowed it. The F1 was followed by the G1 that included several minor improvements such as redesigned grips, and an enlarged trigger guard for utilization with gloves, but it remained conceptual and was never actually produced.

FAMAS G2

The FAMAS G2 was developed c. 1994 to bring the rifle more in compliance with NATO standards by having tighter rifling and accepting standard NATO magazines, but also included several other upgrades taken from the G1 model, such as the enlarged trigger guard and improved hand guards made of fiber glass, rather than plastics like on the F1. The French Navy purchased the FAMAS G2 in 1995, and issued it to their Fusiliers Marins and Commandos Marine. The French Army has however held off large scale purchase of the G2 to date, and the FAMAS F1 still remains the primary service rifle of the Army.

Views of different versions of the FAMAS
FAMAS-G2 with bayonet as issued by French Navy 
Schematics of a FAMAS F1 (top) compared to G2 (bottom). The G2 features
- a larger trigger guard
- a STANAG magazine
- a hand guard on the receiver under the muzzle
- a 1/9 rifling, instead of the 1/12 rifling of the F1 

MAS .223

During the late 1980s, Century Arms imported a very small number of semi-automatic FAMAS rifles into the United States. However, due to poor sales, production and importation ceased and the existing number are not only extremely rare but cost in the range of $10,000 with no spare parts available on the market.

FAMAS Infanterie

The FAMAS Infanterie is an improvement of the FAMAS F1, obtained by retrofiting an accessory rail onto the top of the handguard. This allows mounting combat optics, most notably reflex sights or the 4× magnification SCROME J4 scope.

Design details

Action

A schematic of the lever-delayed blowback mechanism used in the FAMAS assault rifle.

The FAMAS assault rifle is a bullpup configuration, with the ammunition feed behind the trigger. The receiver housing is made of a special steel alloy, and the rifle furniture is made of fiberglass. The rifle uses a lever-delayed blowback action, an action used on the AA-52 machine gun derived from the prototypes built during Army Technical Department tests having taken place between the First and Second World Wars.

Ergonomics

Fire mode is controlled by a selector within the trigger guard, with three settings: safe (central position), single shot (to the right), and automatic fire (to the left). Automatic fire can be in three-shot bursts (rafale) or fully automatic; this is determined by another selector, located under the housing and behind the magazine.

The FAMAS G2 weighs 3.8 kg (8.38 lb). The G1 and G2 have a large, grip-length trigger-guard like a Steyr AUG to allow easy access to the trigger when wearing gloves.

Both F1 and G2 models of the FAMAS feature a bipod attached to the upper hand-guard.

The FAMAS-G2 and some F1 sport a "polyvalent hand-guard" which features a standard NATO accessory rail, allowing a variety of sights to be mounted, notably red dot sights and night vision units.

Alidade for direct fire of the APAV 40 grenade

The FAMAS features two alidades for aiming rifle grenades with several modes:

In indirect fire mode the grenade support (more exactly named "grenade enforcement ring" in French) is moved forwards or backwards on the barrel which has markings (12/13?). This changes the position of the grenade on the barrel and automatically the volume of the chamber in which the gas expands to push the grenade forward. Each position of the grenade support has a number which is multiplied by a certain fixed number depending on the alidade position, 45° or 75°; this will accurately indicate the firing distance of the grenade.

Ammunition

FAMAS rifle, upgraded with an Aimpoint red dot sight, equipped with the blank-firing muzzle attachment and laser training hardware.

The FAMAS F1 and G1, the original variants, were designed to use French-made 25-round magazines with 5.56×45mm NATO cartridges. Due to the 1/12 rifling of the F1 barrel and its blowback action, ammunition must be a steel-case, French-made SS109 cartridge; using standard brass-case 5.56×45mm NATO causes overpressure and can cause malfunction.[6] The barrel of the G2 uses a 1/9 rifling, which enables it to use the SS109 or the M193 interchangeably.

During training with blank ammunition, a plug is added to the muzzle of the FAMAS. This plug is necessary for automatic or semi-automatic operation, which it allows by blocking part of the gas.

The FAMAS can use a variety of rifle grenades up to 500 grammes. Notable examples are the antipersonnel APAV40 and the antitank AC58. It can also fire some hand grenades designed for this alternative purpose, notably the F2 grenade that includes a bullet trap. The FAMAS can accommodate an external grenade launcher as an add-on module under the hand guard; the US M203 grenade launcher is sometimes used.

  1. Rubber buttpad
  2. Removable stock
  3. Cheek rest. Can be reversed for right or left-handed shooter.
  4. Mobile assembly and ejection port
  5. Pins
  6. Bipod
  7. Handguard
  8. Charging Handle
  9. Grenade launcher sight
  10. Grenade support
  11. Muzzle brake/22 mm rifle grenade launcher
  12. Barrel
  13. Fire control selector: Safety, semi-automatic, automatic
  14. Trigger
  15. Magazine release
  16. Magazine block (safety device)
  17. Serial number
  18. (right): 3-round burst or full automatic selector
    (left): Sling ring

Service

Improved FAMAS F1 Félin system

The FAMAS first saw service in Chad during Operation Manta and again in desert operations during Operation Desert Storm and in other various peacekeeping missions. Officially, operational conditions proved the weapon to be reliable and trustworthy under combat conditions. The FAMAS is affectionately known by French-speaking troops as le Clairon ("the Bugle") because of its shape. An improved version of the FAMAS F1 is integrated in the Félin system.

Senegal and the United Arab Emirates received a small number of FAMAS F1 rifles from France,[7] though it was unknown when they received them. Djibouti uses this weapon in its military as the standard infantry weapon. The Philippines also received a limited number and is used by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force.[8]

Future replacement

The French armed forces are still using F1 series rifles, some produced as early as 1979, and with the closing of the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne (MAS) factory in 2002, the newest rifles are over a decade old in 2015. The French armed forces currently use about 400,000 FAMAS F1 and G1 rifles.[9]

In May 2014, the French Ministère de la Défense announced a European Union-wide tender for 90,000 rifles and carbines to be issued service-wide across the French army, navy and air force.[10] As of February 2015, the Ministère de la Défense had selected five rifles for testing and evaluation: the HK416A5 by Heckler & Koch; the SCAR-L by FN; the VHS and VHS K-2 by HS Product; the MCX by Sig Sauer; and the ARX 160A1 by Beretta.[11][12] The rifle trials are expected to last until 2017 at the earliest.[13]

Conflicts

The FAMAS has been used in the following conflicts:

Gallery

Users

See also

Sources and references

  1. 1 2 "Modern Firearms – FAMAS". World.guns.ru. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. ↑ http://talks.guns.ru/forums/icons/forum_pictures/004217/4217682.jpg
  3. ↑ "French MAS Type 1955". Forgotten Weapons. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "French MAS Type 62". Forgotten Weapons. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "FA-MAS Type 62". Securityarms.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  6. ↑ L'armée rencontre de sérieuses difficultés avec les munitions du fusil Famas
  7. 1 2 3 Kemp, Ian (April–May 2007). "Assault rifles in a 5.56 mm evolution: the fielding of new designs and the upgrade of existing weapons will ensure that 5.56 mm remains the predominant assault rifle calibre". Armada International. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Famas F-1". Rifles n Guns. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
  9. ↑ France launches FAMAS replacement tender – IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, 22 May 2014
  10. ↑ "France Launches Program to Replace FAMAS Rifle - The Firearm Blog". The Firearm Blog. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  11. ↑ Yann, Petiteaux (13 November 2014). "Marché du Famas : Humbert reste dans la course". Acteurs de l'économie (in French) (La Tribune). Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Guillermard, Véronique (9 March 2015). "Beretta rêve de moderniser le fusil de l'armée". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Croatian VHS-2 To Enter French Rifle Competition - The Firearm Blog". The Firearm Blog. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  14. 1 2 3 Bishop, Chris. Guns in Combat. Chartwell Books, Inc (1998). ISBN 0-7858-0844-2.
  15. 1 2 3 Marchington, James (2004). The Encyclopedia of Handheld Weapons. Lewis International, Inc. ISBN 1-930983-14-X.
  16. ↑ "LiveLeak.com - ISIS Reportedly Fighting Alongside the Free Syrian Army and Al-Qaeda in Al-Zabadani". liveleak.com.
  17. ↑
  18. 1 2 Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (27 January 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  19. ↑ "Kopassus & Kopaska – Specijalne Postrojbe Republike Indonezije" (in Croatian). Hrvatski Vojnik Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  20. ↑ "Geeks spot French rifles in PNG coup attempt". Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE.
  21. ↑ "PNG's mutineers trade guns for amnesty". The Australian. 31 January 2012.
  22. ↑ "Vanuatu Daily Newspaper". modestclub.com.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FAMAS.

Manual

Preceded by
Fusil MAS-49		 French Army rifle
1981–present 		Succeeded by
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