Aussie Spec Ops WO1 weighs in on the new and improved EF88
Australia went against the Commonwealth grain when they ditched the then-standard FN FAL (L1A1 semiauto) pattern SLR (and some M16s) for the Austrian Steyr in the 1980s, naming the rifle the F88 Austeyr as they were built under license at the Thales Lithgow Small Arms Factory. Now, after an extensive redesign that has produced the EF88 with lots of new upgrades (rails, internals, ergonomics, etc), the Australians are set to keep the Steyr for generations longer while Australia’s closest ally, the U.S., rock the M4/M16.
Some of the troops down in Oz think that’s a mistake. From ASPI:
I am a senior warrant officer who has been fortunate to serve in an Australian Special Forces unit for over 25 years, including more than 13 years in combat roles, and, most recently, as head of my unit’s combat and firearms training program. I’m writing this because I respectfully disagree with John Coyne’s recent assessment that the EF88 (the designation of the rifle in Australian Army service, not ‘F90’ which refers to Thales’ export version) ‘seems to make perfect sense’, when compared to the M4/AR-15.
I’ve had the opportunity to fire the EF88 and while it’s an improvement on the current Steyr, it’s definitely not a good combat weapon. The Steyr has many aspects that are less than desirable—some I will discuss below—but I’ll acknowledge that for the majority of the Australian Defence Force, it’s adequate for self defence. However, for our combat soldiers (not just Special Forces) we could do a great deal better.