The FAD (Fusil Automático Doble, lit. "Dual Automatic Rifle") was a Peruvian prototype bullpup assault rifle designed to be a back-up weapon for armored crews.
History
The rifle was designed by Salomón Braga Lozo of SIMA Electronica, a division of the Peruvian state-owned SIMA (Servicios Industriales de la Marina) shipyards, located in the port of Callao. The weapon was showcased at a military symposium that year.
As of 2021, the weapon has yet to be put into full production and/or adopted; however, it is widely assumed that the project for the weapon has been shelved as it has not been showcased over the last few years, and the company that supposedly produces the weapon, SIMA Electronica, made no mention of the FAD on their website; the SIMA Electronica website has since been shut down and the domain sold.
It has been stated multiple times that between 150 to 170 weapons were produced, although mass-production could not be carried out due to budgetary issues; however, as stated above, the weapon has not been showcased over the past few years and there appears to not be sources that back up these claims.
Design
The FAD is chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. The weapon lacks an actual trigger guard, using the front pump grip for the pump-action grenade launcher as a pseudo-trigger guard. The ejection port of the weapon is located on the right, although there is a cartridge deflector that deflects casings downwards, which makes the weapon somewhat ambidextrous. What allows this ambidextrous firing is the weapon's magazine well; the magazine well of the weapon is canted 12 degrees off to the left. The charging handle is a crescent-shaped pull handle located on the right side of the rifle near the ejection port.[1][2]