ArmaLite

ArmaLite, Inc. is an American small arms engineering company founded in the early 1950s. The ideas caught the interest of Richard Boutelle at Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, and the company was formally incorporated as a division of Fairchild on 1 October 1954. Their first design, the Parasniper from 1952, used foam-filled fibreglass furniture and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve. This saw little use, but when they were asked to compete in a contest for an aircrew survival rifle their AR-5 and AR-7 designs from 1956 saw production use. This was followed by an invitation to compete for the new combat rifle for US forces, which led to the AR-10. The AR-10 lost the 1957 contest, but many of its ideas were re-used in the smaller and lighter AR-15, an experimental design that was detested by US Army brass. Tired of repeated failures in the market, Fairchild licensed the AR-10 and AR-15 designs to Colt, and the AR-10 to a Dutch company. They sold their interest in ArmaLite in 1962. That year, Colt successfully sold the AR-15 to the US Air Force to arm base security troops.