According to a tweet from Hervé Grandjean, Spokesperson for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, 10,000 new Heckler & Koch HK416F assault rifles were delivered this week. The French army has now exceeded the milestone of 50% of weapons delivered as part of the Infantry Weapon of the Future program.
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HF416F in short-barrel variant for the special forces (Picture source: French army)
In total, 59,340 HK416F have been induced out of the 117,000 to be received. 12,000 HK416 assault rifles will be delivered in 2022.
The HK416 is an assault rifle chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. Although the design is based on the AR-15 class of firearm (specifically the Colt M4 carbine family issued to the U.S. military), it uses a proprietary short-stroke, gas piston system from Heckler & Koch's earlier G36 family of rifles.
The HK 416 in its F version, proposed by Heckler and Koch, is the new assault rifle of the Army replacing the assault rifle of the Saint-Etienne arms factory (FAMAS). Between 2017 and 2028, the Army will be equipped with 93,080 HK416Fs, this figure taking into account the land operational force (FOT) of 77,000 men, the "non-FOT" and the reservists.
The fighter carries 10 magazines of 30 cartridges. This rifle integrates all the existing devices and in particular the aiming aids. It is equipped in this with 4 Picatinny rails allowing the attachment of accessories such as the bayonet on the standard version or the 40 mm grenade launcher usable on both versions.
