#F90

News from IWA 2016, Lithgow Arms, the small arms division of Australian defense conglomerate Thales, and former government arsenal, has announced that they will be offering a semiautomatic version of their F90 military rifle for the law enforcement/police market, as a patrol rifle. The F90 was developed by Thales to replace the AUG F88 Austeyr bullpup rifle, upon which it is based.

The Australian Army’s program to produce a successor to the F88 “Austeyr” is on the verge of bearing fruit. Army.gov.au reports that the F90, formerly designated “EF88” is now being issued for trials, in preparation for final modifications and production. The F90 is a lighter, more modular system that fixes many of the flaws of the original Steyr AUG design:

The Australian Defense Force have awarded Thales a contract to produce an unspecified number of Thales F90 rifles for them. The F90 is a modernized Steyr AUG. Jane’s reports…

Jenzen-Jones had an opportunity to shoot Thales’ new EF88 (F90) rifle at Lithgow arms factory. I love the two-tone color combination of the olive green stock with tan metal finish.

Lusaka, our man in Paris, had the opportunity to closely examine and review the brand new Thales/Steyr F90 rifle.

Thales Australia has unveiled the new F90, their latest version of the Steyr AUG. Steyr may have given up development of their AUG, but the Australians continue to evolve the design. The F90 is the commercial/export version of the EF-88 which Thales have been developing for the Australia’s LAND 125 upgrade program. Thales and Steyr will be entering the F90 in the French FAMAS replacement competition.