The French Armament General Directorate (Direction Générale de l’Armement, DGA)has ordered 9,600 more Glock 17 pistols. The order was placed on 26 April and is the last tranche of Glock 17 Gen 5 FR 9 mm semi-automatic pistols foreseen by France’s Loi de Programmation Militaire 2019–25 military funding programme as part of efforts to modernise the French military’s personal equipment. At the end of 2019, the DGA ordered the self-loading pistol from Glock, ammunition from Sellier & Bellot, and training conversion kits from UTM. The 9,600 of the final batch is to be delivered during the second half of 2022, which will bring the total to 74,600, according to the DGA.
The Glock 17 Gen 5 FR featuring a coyote frame with a black slide and front serrations, luminescent U-shaped sights and extended slide lock replace decades old PA MAS G1 S and PA MAC50 pistols. The contract over the next three years includes over 75.000 pistols, holsters, magazine pouches, suppressors, several types of ammunition and protective cases. The offered pistols underwent stringent testing by the French STAT (Section Technique de l’Armée de Terre), among others a minimum expected lifetime test of 26.350 rounds, to make sure the selected pistols and holsters fit their high standard military requirements due to the high operational employment of the French armed forces.
The Glock 17 Gen 5 FR is gradually replacing the MAC Model 1950 pistol dating from the 1950s, and the PAMAS G1 that partially replaced it in the 1990s. It is used by the French Armed Forces for self-protection, with 80% of the pistols ordered to go to the French Army, 10% to the French Air and Space Force, 8% to the French Navy, and 2% to others. The DGA to re-equip the entire French Army with its new G17 Gen5 and multiple accessories, as their standard handgun. It isn’t just the French military that has opted to go with the Glocks. In 2013, the British Armed Forces also began to adopt the Glock 17 as a replacement for the decades-old Browning Hi-Power.
Glock is a brand of polymer-framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the top performer in reliability and safety tests. Glock pistols have become the company’s most profitable line of products, and have been supplied to national armed forces, security agencies, and police forces in at least 48 countries. Glocks are also popular firearms among civilians, home- and self-defense, both in concealed or open carry. In 2020, the Glock 19 was the best selling pistol on GunBroker.
