Steyr AUG

The Steyr AUG is an Austrian bullpup 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle, designed in the 1960s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch). The AUG (Armee-Universal-Gewehr—"universal army rifle") was adopted by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 (Sturmgewehr 77) in 1978, where it replaced the 7.62×51mm StG 58 automatic rifle (a licence-built FN FAL). In production since 1978, it is the standard small arm of the Austrian Bundesheer and various national police units.

The rifle and its variants have also been adopted by the armed forces of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, the Falkland Islands Defence Force and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Design details

The AUG, a bullpup 5.56×45mm automatic rifle, is a selective-fire weapon with a conventional gas-piston-operated action that fires from a closed bolt. Designed as a family of rifles that could be quickly adapted to a wide variety of roles with the change of the barrel to a desired length and profile, the AUG is a modular configuration rifle that employs a high level of polymer and advanced alloy components.