France military has gone for the fifth-generation Glock 17 pistols with an aim of replacing its aging supply of MAC 50s and PAMAS G1s
The defense ministry announced on Monday, January 6. its upgrading the military with the new procurements. The armed forces will also acquire number of FN SCAR rifles for snipers, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Monday.
The armed forces will also receive 2,620 SCAR-H PRs by 2022, replacing the FR F2 rifle in service since the 1980s. Both rifles have an effective range of 800 m. FN SCAR rifle is intended to equip the snipers of the armed forces. The defense ministry noted that the rifle will allow them to maintain superiority over the adversaries they face in the theaters of external operations.
The SCAR-H PR (Special Operations Combat Action Rifle – Heavy, Precision Rifle) is the 7.62 x 51 mm, 20-inch barrel variation of the Belgian-manufactured weapon.
The procurements are the latest small arms upgrades by the French Armed Forces, which began replacing the iconic but dated FAMAS assault rifle in 2017 with the German-made HK 416.
According to Parly, the first new Glocks have already arrived, and a total of 74,596 are expected to be delivered by 2022.
The defense ministry announced the fifth-gen Glock 17s would also replace the military’s supply of PAMAS G1 pistols – a modified version of the Beretta 92 – which entered service in 1989 with the National Gendarmerie.
France military is expected to receive delivery of 12,000 HK 416F rifles in 2020 as part of a phase-out of the FAMAS, which has been in service since the 1970s.
