HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''AA-52'' (full designation in French: ''Arme Automatique Transformable Modèle 1952'', "Transformable automatic weapon model 1952") is one of the first French-produced guns of the post–World War II era. It was manufactured by the French government-owned
Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne The ''Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', often abbreviated to MAS ("Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory" in English) was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Saint-Étienne, Loire. Founded in 1764, it was merged into the ...
(MAS) company. The AA-52 is still used today as a vehicle-mounted weapon due to large quantities in service, but has been replaced in the helicopter role by the Belgian
FN MAG The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, in ...
, starting with the EC 725 Caracal of the special operations units and the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
teams. The AA-52 had been largely phased out for infantry use in favour of the lighter
FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for french: Mini Mitrailleuse; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more tha ...
but remains in use.


History

The AA-52
general-purpose machine gun A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for v ...
was conceived and developed following the French military's experiences in the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
during the early 1950s. At that time, the French army was equipped with an assortment of weapons from British and American sources, as well as some German weapons from the Second World War. Effective supply of ammunition and replacement parts was an almost insoluble task and the army decided to adopt a standard machine gun. The result was the AA-52, conceived for ease of production. The construction is of simple welded stamped sheet steel. The AA-52 was partially withdrawn from the service of the French army in 2008. It was replaced in the 2010s by 10,881
FN MAG The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, in ...
general-purpose machine guns.


Design

The AA-52 is a peculiar weapon among modern machine guns because it uses
lever-delayed blowback Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge. Several blowback systems exist wit ...
operation, also seen in the
FAMAS The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Ste ...
rifle, manufactured at the same factory. When firing, the pressure pushing the case head rearward initiates an impulse on a cam that sends the bolt carrier rearward. After a certain distance, a link (in this case the firing pin) pulls the bolt head, hence extracting the spent case. Since there is no
primary extraction In breechloading firearms, primary extraction is the initial phase (the first few millimeters) of the extraction of a spent casing from the firearm chamber. After the primary extraction comes the secondary extraction where the bolt is moved furt ...
, the chamber is fluted to allow powder gases to flow back, unsticking the case from the chamber wall as with
Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...
–type
roller-delayed blowback Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge. Several blowback systems exist wi ...
weapons. The feed and trigger mechanisms are derived from the
MG 42 The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enter ...
. The AA-52 can be used as a
light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the ...
with a bipod or as a
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
with a tripod. When used with a tripod for continuous fire, the gun is fitted with a heavier barrel. In the light machine gun configuration, the AA-52 is a relatively light weapon to carry. The AA-52 can be fired from the shoulder, but this is slightly awkward because of the position of the handle; however, the bipod can be used as a handguard when not in use. The barrel is changed by pressing a latch and rotating it a quarter of a turn. The APX(SOM) telescopic sight used on the MAS-49 and the
FR-F1 The FR F1 is a French sniper rifle manufactured by the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (''MAS''); one of several government-owned arms factories in France. The FR F1 was France's first purpose-built precision rifle for sharpshooters. Introdu ...
sniper rifle can be mounted on the AA-52 as well as an infrared night sight. File:Mitrailleuse-IMG 1730.jpg File:Machine gun p1040625.jpg File:Motte-Picquet-ANF1.jpg File:Porte ouverte 18RT-15 juin 2009 arme militaire03.jpg, AA-52 machine gun on display.


Variants


NF-1

The AA-52 originally used the standard
7.5×54mm French The 7.5×54mm French, 7.5 French, or 7.5 MAS (designated as the 7,5 × 54 MAS by the C.I.P.) is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed by France as an update to the 7.5×57mm MAS mod. 1924 cartridge. It replaced the obsolete ...
cartridge. The general adoption of the
7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...
cartridge reduced the opportunity for export sales, and the gun was adapted for this standard NATO calibre.


MAC-58

The MAC-58 was a version of the AA-52 chambered in .50 BMG. A few prototypes were tested and one retained for preserial production, but it never reached production due to the large quantity of US
M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...
machine guns already in service with the French armed forces.


Users

* * : Twin AA-52 machine guns were found in
Fouga Magister Fouga (also known as Air Fouga) was a French manufacturing company established by Gaston Fouga at Béziers during 1920. Originally specialising in the repair of railway rolling stock, the firm eventually became most noted for the aircraft it p ...
attack aircraft. * * * * * * * * * : ''F1'' variant. * * : used some ''ANF1'' to protect
Camp Warehouse Camp Warehouse was a International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). It was located 10 km east of Kabul, Kabul Province in Afghanistan. Initially constructed by German soldiers, Camp Warehouse was ...
, Afghanistan, under French command. * : AAT-F1 variant mounted on AMX-10 PAC 90 of Korps Marinir. * : Twin AA-52 7.62mm machine guns were fitted to the Irish Panhard AML 60-7 CS armoured cars. * * mounted on VAB mephisto * * : Armed and Security Forces of Mali * * : ''F1'' variant. * * * * * *


References


External links


AAT Mod.52 / Mod. F1
at Modern Firearms {{DEFAULTSORT:Aa-52 Machine Gun 7.5×54mm French firearms 7.62×51mm NATO machine guns General-purpose machine guns Infantry weapons of the Cold War Lever-delayed blowback firearms Machine guns of France Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1952