13e DBLE: First French Army regiment to receive Heckler & Koch rifle

The 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion will be the first French Army regiment to receive the German Heckler & Koch HK416F rifle. The rifle would replace the outdated FAMAS.

The German defense manufacturing company Heckler & Koch designed and manufactured a special version of its HK416 rifle for the French Armed Forces, designated HK 416 F. This version of the classic NATO’s 5,56 mm rifle replaces the flip-up front sight of the HK416’s with a specialized bayonet lug + it uses a custom barrel muzzle to attach and fire rifle grenades.

Currently, the HK416F is used only by French commandos & special operations forces. The French Armed Forces use the FAMAS rifle, manufactured in 1971 and in service since the turn of the 1970s and 1980s.

The 13e DBLE legionnaires will obtain first HK416F rifles in June (4th Company + SAED landing support platoon) and in October (1st Company) 2017. Nonetheless, several 13e DBLE legionnaires are going through the training with the new rifle right now.

The French Army would like to equip its soldiers with 100,000 HK416F rifles until 2024.

13e DBLE - 13 DBLE - Legion - Heckler & Koch HK 416 F - HK416F - 2017 — A 13e DBLE legionnaire with the Heckler & Koch *HK416F* rifle (*April 2017*)
**© Photo credit**: *Légion étrangère*

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