DSEI 2025: Hands on With Thales’ ACAR
Originally unveiled a couple of years ago, TFB had the opportunity to examine the latest versions of Thales’ ACAR last week at DSEI 2025, in London. The ACAR or Australian Combat Assault Rifle is manufactured by the Lithgow Arms, which is a part of Thales Group, at their New South Wales factory.
Speaking to Thales representatives they noted that ACAR is now available in: 5.56mm, 458 SOCOM, 6.5 Grendel, 6mm ARC and 300 BLK. The rifles feature a cold hammer forged barrel for enhanced accuracy and the barrel is also chrome-lined for durability, coming in a variety of lengths including 11.5 and 14. inches. The rifle features the ambidextrous controls we have come to expect from higher-end AR-patterned offerings. Thales say that ACAR is designed to be ‘future-ready’ and the transfer-of-technology enables it to be capable of continually evolving against emerging threats.
Thales are monitoring the UK MoD’s Project Grayburn, the programme intended to select the next UK service rifle. With many of the major manufacturers lining up their Grayburn pitches, Thales’ lead is that there is significant UK-Australia defense cooperation and it is one of only two rifle offerings to emerge from former Dominion nations which have long relationships with the UK.
ACAR has an interlocked forend that dovetails with the upper receiver to provide improved rigidity and minimise flex. Handling the rifle at DSEI it felt sold, with minimal flex. An updated version of the rifle is said to be in the pipeline, based largely on feedback received from those sent to Ukraine earlier in 2023. The rifles on display were equipped with a NightForce variable and Thales’ Xtraim advanced thermal weapon sight. Xtraim has a hybrid thermal mode using a 40×512 micron thermal imager.
Thales has pursued the development of ACAR to complement the F90, AUG-patterned rifle, in service with the Australian Armed Forces to provide a more conventional option for the future.
Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
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This is their "just in case" Australia decides to join the rest of the world and ditch the bullpup. Now Thales makes both options.
The AR-15 type keeps growing and becoming more widespread.