#Oz

The Thales EF88 assault rifle has seen its first operational deployment, and the reception is reportedly very warm. According to an article in Defence Connect, the rifles were deployed with Task Group Taji 5 (5th rotation), a battalion of Australian Defence Force advisers for Iraqi forces deployed as part of Operation Okra. The article reads:

As we wrap up our SHOT Show coverage, we turn to a new company on the US market, but an old name in Australia: Lithgow. This Australian gun company dates back to the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, established before World War I and located in New South Wales. Today, Lithgow brands itself as a high tech manufacturer, advertising its military Atrax bullpup rifle as using a completely novel polymer in the construction of its barrel cradle, for example. Lithgow’s US arm themselves will not be importing the Atrax (that will be handled by Dasan), but rather a line of premium bolt action rifles that have been sold on the Australian civilian market for several years now.

Big news at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting 2016, importer Lithgow Arms USA will be bringing the EF88/F90 improved bullpup assault rifle to the USA. The F90 is a variant of the Steyr AUG developed for the Australian Defence Force to replace the F88 (their designation for the AUG) bullpup rifle.

In the comments section of my recent article on the YouTube Channel Bloke on the Range, the subject arose of the AIA M10 Enfield series, one of which is used by Bloke in one of his videos. These were Australian-built rifles made roughly to the extremely venerable Lee-Enfield pattern, and chambered for .308 Winchester and 7.62×39 (like Bloke’s gun).