FAMAS  The FAMAS ("Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne", in English "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup-styled assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS located in Saint-Étienne, which is now a member of the French government-owned Nexter group. It is being replaced as the service rifle of the French military by the HK416F. It is known by French troops as "Le Clairon" (The Bugle) due to its distinctive shape. The FAMAS is recognized for its high rate of fire at 1,100 rounds per minute. The first French bullpup rifles were developed between 1946 and 1950 at the AME ("Atelier Mécanique de Mulhouse") and MAS, testing rounds such as .30 US Carbine, 7.92×33mm Kurz, 7.65×38mm (Made by "Cartoucherie de Valence") and some other intermediate calibers. Since France was engaged in the First Indochina War at the time, and was also the second-largest contributor to NATO, the research budgets for new types of weapons were limited and priority was given to the modernization and production of existing service weapons. Nevertheless, approximately forty different 7.62×51mm NATO calibre prototype rifles were developed between 1952 and 1962, most notably the FA-MAS Type 62. However, the United States adoption of the M16 rifle and 5.56×45mm cartridge caused the French to rethink their approach, and consequently the Type 62 was not adopted. In the 1960s, MAS began to manufacture under licence the Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle and later on the Heckler & Koch HK33 assault rifle as temporary substitutes. At the same time, the French embraced the idea of developing a new 5.56 mm automatic rifle. However, simply adopting the German-designed HK33 rifle was considered unsatisfactory for many members of the French high command. General Marcel Bigeard was also against the idea of relying on foreign weapons; while visiting the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne, he asked the engineers to develop a homemade French 5.56 mm automatic rifle, which subsequently led to the creation and adoption of the FAMAS. The FAMAS project began in 1967 under the direction of General Paul Tellié (1919-2014) and the first prototype was completed in 1971, with French military evaluation of the rifle beginning in 1972.