Thales Australia F90 assault rifle to enter LRIP for ADF
Thales Australia will begin Low Rate Initial Production of its F90 assault rifle under a contract from the Australian Department of Defence announced on 23 September.
The F90 recently achieved Provisional Design Acceptance for Australia’s LAND 125 programme as part of its Soldier Modernisation Programme, following an extensive testing period that saw over one million rounds fired.
The F90 rifle is a light, versatile weapon weighing 3.25kg with high reliability and rapid target acquisition time. The bullpup design enables a longer barrel and associated higher muzzle velocity for greater stopping power within a compact overall length.
The weapon also includes an integrated side loading 40mm grenade launcher that can be attached in just a few seconds by the soldier – a potentially decisive capability advantage facilitating speed and flexibility on operations.
Kevin Wall, vice president armaments, Thales Australia, said: ‘This is a major milestone in the F90 story. Backed by over a century of military weapons experience, Thales’s Lithgow facility will now begin manufacturing F90 rifles as part of a de-risking exercise designed to smooth the transition in production from the existing in-service weapon to the F90.’
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