Despite the weapon’s short length it still came standard with a fighting bayonet, a peculiar accessory for a weapon just over two feet long.įAMAS has served in a number of conflicts, including 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, the NATO intervention in Afghanistan, and numerous security deployments across French colonial Africa and even France itself. The FAMAS can augment French infantry firepower by firing rifle grenades from the muzzle. The rifles are capable of single shot, three round burst, and fully automatic fire. The G2 was largely confined to French marine and naval commando units, with the French Army continuing to use the F1.įAMAS had a relatively high rate of fire for an assault rifle, firing from 900 to 1,100 rounds per minute. G2 used NATO standard 30-round magazines and featured a 1 in 9 inch twist pairing it with older M193 rounds as well as newer NATO SS109 armor piercing rounds. The next generation FAMAS G2, was introduced in the 1990s. In 1978, the French Army adopted Tellié’s new rifle as the FAMAS. By 1971 he had a working prototype and the weapon underwent field trials from 1972 to 1973. French Army officer and small arms designer Paul Tellié went to work on developing a weapon that could function as both a replacement for the MAS 49/56 and the MAT 49 submachine gun. Although it could have easily procured a proven 7.62 battle rifle such as the German G3, it was inconceivable that Gaullist France would adopt a foreign weapon.
The French Army began its search for a new rifle in the 1960s. Soviet and communist bloc troops equipped with the AK-47, on the other hand, could fire 300 rounds. In terms of raw firepower, ten French soldiers firing a single magazine each could put 100 rounds downrange. The AK was both lighter and used a much larger magazine than the French rifle.
The 49/56 would have been fine weapon for World War II, but by the 1960s it was woefully outgunned by the AK-47. The lightweight rifle weighed just 8.5 pounds and could fire rifle grenades. The 49/56 was a gas operated, semi-automatic rifle that fired the French 7.5×54 rifle cartridge from a ten-round detachable magazine. The bulk of French troops were equipped with the MAS 49/56 battle rifle. In the 1960s, the French Army was outgunned on the battlefield.