ArmaLite

ArmaLite

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Arms industry
Founded	1954 (original company) 1996 (current company)
Headquarters	Phoenix, Arizona , U.S.
Products	Firearms and accessories
Number of employees	51–200 (est.)
Parent	Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation (1954–1962) Strategic Armory Corps (2013–present)
Website	armalite.com

ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s, in Hollywood, California. Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock furniture, and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve, including the iconic AR-15/M16 family. While the original ArmaLite ceased business in the 1980s, the brand was revived in 1996, by Mark Westrom.

Originating as the light firearms division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, ArmaLite was formally incorporated in 1954. Stoner's first design, the AR-1 Parasniper (dating from 1952),^[1] was relatively unsuccessful. However, in 1956, when ArmaLite competed in a contest for an aircrew survival rifle, its AR-5 and AR-7 designs were put into production and adopted by elements of the US military. The following year, ArmaLite also competed for the contract for a new main US combat rifle, in the NATO standard 7.62 mm caliber, with its AR-10. While that bid was unsuccessful, the rifle attracted the attention of both Colt and the Dutch company Artillerie-Inrichtingen, both of which acquired licenses to manufacture the AR-10.

In 1962, Fairchild relinquished its interest in ArmaLite, which continued as an independent company.

The AR-15, chambered for the new, lightweight, high velocity 5.56 mm round, included features of Stoner's previous designs. Under financial pressure, ArmaLite sold the entire rights to the AR-15 design to Colt, which quickly secured significant US military and law enforcement contracts for the weapon, beginning with the USAF Security Forces (1962). A variant of the Colt product was adopted as the US Army's main combat rifle, from 1964, as the Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16. By the 1980s, it had also been adopted by the militaries of many US allies, especially within NATO countries. The M16 remained the primary combat rifle of the US military until 2016. Furthermore, its replacements have often been derivatives of the M16 (e.g. the M4 carbine), or other ArmaLite and/or Eugene Stoner designs (e.g. M27–IAR).

ArmaLite had other brushes with success, especially with the ArmaLite AR-18 (also 5.56 mm). These were not enough to sustain the company, and it ceased operations in the early 1980s.^[2] The design rights and name were purchased in 1996 by Mark Westrom, who re-launched the company ArmaLite, Inc., headquartered in Geneseo, Illinois.^[1]

In 2013, Westrom sold ArmaLite, Inc. to Strategic Armory Corps, which owns AWC Silencers, Surgeon Rifles, Nexus Ammo, and McMillan Firearms. Strategic Armory Corps was formed to acquire and combine market-leading companies within the firearms industry.^[3] In 2014, 3-Gun Champion Tommy Thacker was appointed president. In 2015, ArmaLite introduced 18 new products, including AR-10 and M-15 platform firearms. In mid-2018, ArmaLite relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. As of mid-2023 Strategic Armory Corps and its subsidiaries (including Armalite) relocated headquarters to be based out of Bryan/College Station, Texas.^[4]