Israel’s newly unveiled automatic assault rifle, named the “Galil,” has aroused the interest of many foreign armies, it was learned today. Spokesmen for Israel’s military industry, whose engineers developed the new weapon, said that requests to examine it have already been received from a number of European, African, Asian and Latin American countries. They predicted that the “Galil” would have the same international success as Israel’s Uzi submachine gun which was developed in the 1950s and has since had millions of dollars in foreign sales.
The “Galil” was described as similar in appearance to the Russian Kalachnikof assault rifle but superior to it in performance. A report published recently in the Military Review of the U.S. Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., said that in tests against the Kalachnikof, the Belgian FN rifle, the American M-16, the Italian Beretta and the Japanese Har 18, the Israeli weapon took first place with a score of 98 out of 100 points. It was designed by Col. Uzi Gal, designer of the famed Uzi submachine gun.
The new Israeli rifle weighs four kilograms without ammunition and can fire 650 rounds per minute at ranges of 60-200 yards. It fires 5.56 mm. calibre ammunition, the same as the American M-16. It also fires grenades and can be used with a bayonet. The weapon has reportedly been issued to some of Israel’s crack paratroop units and may eventually replace the Uzi, the Belgian FN and the Browning light machine gun in Israel’s arsenal.
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