Special Report
12 Foreign-Made Small Arms That See Everyday Use by the US Military
Published:
The United States is one of the largest arms manufacturers in the world, especially when it comes to small arms. Despite the robust portfolio of guns that the U.S. produces annually, the U.S. military still buys small arms from other countries to outfit its military forces. American-made guns have a special place within the U.S. military arsenal, but there are a few foreign-made guns that see everyday use as well. (These are the 26 guns in the arsenal of the U.S. Army.)
Even though the United States is incredibly proficient at manufacturing aircraft, drones, tanks, and naval vessels, there are some weapons designed by other nations that find their way into our ranks. Quite a few of these are small arms used by infantry units across multiple U.S. military branches.
To determine the small arms used by the U.S. military that are not made by U.S.-based companies, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a range of sources, including military handbooks, government press releases, and firearms publications pertaining to small arms and light weapons currently used by different U.S. military branches. Data on the type of weapon, caliber, feed, manufacturer, and year it entered service, came from Military Factory, an online database of military vehicles, aircraft, arms, and more. The weapons are listed in alphabetical order.
It is worth pointing out that a majority of these weapons listed originate from Central Europe and they range from shotguns, rocket launchers, battle rifles, and submachine guns. However, under the Buy American Act of 1933, the U.S. Government must prefer domestically-produced small arms, among other things. The legal workaround for this is foreign companies setting up manufacturing facilities within the U.S. and producing these arms, then selling to the U.S. military.
One notable absence from this list is sniper rifles. Many of these are domestically produced by American companies and there has been a push in recent decades to make this segment of small arms entirely American. (These are the 16 sniper rifles used by the U.S. military.)
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