Like most NATO countries, France has so far stuck to the tried-and-tested 9x19 mm (9 Para) cartridge. There was little surprise about the caliber of the handgun. All the more so because the semi-automatic pistol per se has gained considerable importance in armed forces worldwide as a secondary or "back-up" weapon. The GLOCK G17 Gen 5 in the trendy color Coyote.ĭespite the pistol project being named with a slight wink, the procurers took the project very seriously. GLOCK, the global company now based there, is supplying a version of its G 17 Gen 5 model as the new French service pistol. Around the turn of the year 2019/20, the decision was made: the order went to Deutsch-Wagram in Lower Austria – where, incidentally, the French emperor Napoleon won a brilliant victory in a battle fought from July 5 to 6, 1809, which heralded the end of the Fifth Coalition War. The finalists were GLOCK and the Croatian company HS Produkt. Rather, the abbreviation stood for "Pistolet Automatique de Nouvelle Génération", i.e. The sonorous name did not refer to the sound that can be heard when a gun is fired.
The pistol project launched in spring 2019 went by the abbreviation "PANG". The French armed forces recently proved this. Who says that military and procurement agencies can't have fun in their service? In particular, acronyms lend themselves as starting points for humorous creativity. 75,000 pistols ordered were already delivered in the summer of 2021. GLOCK G17 Gen 5 FR: initial training with the PSA among the troops.