The Gun NATO Loved: Meet the FN-FAL Rifle

Warfare History Network

Security, Europe

One of the most-used military weapons in history, the FN-FAL rifle was the most successful of the NATO military rifles and was used across the globe.

British Corporal Steven Newland crept through the inky darkness toward an Argentine sniper who had pinned his troop of Royal Marines on the slopes of Mount Harriet on East Falkland Island. He and a fellow marine had painstakingly made their way up the boulder-strewn hillside in the hope of killing the harassing sharpshooter. Along the way Newland became separated from his companion, but he continued nonetheless.

Finding his target, it was worse than the young Englishman feared. An entire squad of Argentine troops awaited the marines. They were taking only single shots at their enemy, seemingly in the hope of luring them into an attack. One Argentine had a machine gun ready, the rest were armed with Fabrique Nationale de Herstal-Fusil Automatique Leger (FN-FAL) rifles.

Newland readied his own weapon, a self-loading rifle (SLR), the British variant of the FAL. Quietly he inserted a fresh magazine of 20 rounds. Taking two grenades, he pulled the pins and threw them, one landing on the machine gun and the other among a clustered group of soldiers. Ducking behind a boulder, he waited until the grenades exploded, then waded into the Argentines, shooting anyone who still moved three times. His rifle empty, he ducked behind a rock to reload. As he did so, some of his comrades below fired two rockets into the enemy position. Attacking again, he saw an Argentine he had hit earlier and realized the man was still alive as he fired a burst at Newland. The Briton felt bullets hitting his legs and flew into a rage, shooting his opponent 15 times in the head.

The Ubiquitous Small Arms of the Cold War