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The Fusil Automatique Leger, or Light Automatic Rifle (LAR). It has been described as the "right arm of the free world," the FAL rifle was NATO's answer to the AK-47, in terms of the sheer number of countries that adopted it, over 70. Unlike the AK-47 assault rifle, the FAL utilized a full-power rifle cartridge (the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO standard round) or .308 Win. The FAL was made by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal and under license in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, South Africa (designated R1), Brazil, Australia, Israel, and Argentina. India manufactured FALs without license from FN.

The British adopted their own variant of the FAL and manufactured it based on an imperial measurement pattern, and incorporated minor amendments, including folding cocking handle, prong shaped flash eliminator, folding rear sight, sand removing cuts in the slide and beefed up magazine catch. The UK variant, and many others, is semi-automatic only. Most parts on the British version are not interchangeable with those built on a metric pattern. The British version was designated L1A1 and was known in service as the SLR (Self-Loading Rifle). It was replaced in the early 1980s by the SA80. The L1A1 SLR in Australian service was replaced by the Steyr AUG in the 1990s. The R1 rifle in South African service was replaced around 1990 with the locally built R4 assault rifleThe R4 is a South African assault rifle developed in 1982 for the South African Army to replace the R1, which was a variant of the FN FAL. The R4 was first issued the early 1980s, and is partly based on the famous Israeli Galil which in turn was based on. The R4 is a licensed copy of the GalilIsraeli Defence Force The Galil is one of the standard assault rifles used by the Israel Defense Forces. It was designed by Israel Galili, and bears his name. It uses 5. 56 mm NATO ammunition, like an M-16, but uses the more reliable and easier to manufac rifle from Israel; the Israelis replaced their FALs with the Galil around 1975.

The FAL is an automatic rifle, and operates by means of a gas-operated Firearm actionIn firearms terminology, an action is the system of operation that the firearm employs to seal the breech (in a breech-loading firearm), and to load consecutive rounds. Most commonly this is accomplished by means of a breech-block, which reciprocates in t very similar to that of the BAR - Browning Automatic Rifle. The gas system is driven by a short-stroke piston, and the locking mechanism is what is known as a tilting breech block, as to lock, it hinges down into a solid shoulder of metal in the receiver. Magazine capacity ranges from 5-30, with most magazines being 20 rounds.