page_title: M1 carbine
section_title: French Army
hierarchical_section_title: M1 carbine / Foreign usage / French Army
caption_attribution_description: English: Che Guevara on a mule in Las Villas, Cuba
context_page_description: The M1 carbine is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and well into the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced in several variants and was widely used by not only the U.S. military, but by paramilitary and police forces around the world. It has also been a popular civilian firearm.
  The M2 carbine is the selective-fire version of the M1 carbine capable of firing in both semi-automatic and full-automatic. The M3 carbine was an M2 carbine with an active infrared scope system.
  Despite having a similar name and appearance, the M1 carbine is not a carbine version of the M1 Garand rifle. They are different firearms, and they use different ammunition. On July 1, 1925, the U.S. Army began using the current naming system where the "M" is the designation for "Model" and the number represents the sequential development of equipment and weapons. Therefore, the "M1 rifle" was the first rifle developed under this system. The "M1 carbine" was the first carbine developed under this system. The "M2 carbine" was the second carbine developed under the system, etc.
context_section_description: The U.S. provided France with 269,644 M1 and M2 carbines from World War II to 1963. The carbines were used by the French Paratroopers and Legionnaires, as well specialists (drivers, radio operators, engineers), during the Indo-China War, the Algerian War and the Suez Crisis.
caption: Che Guevara atop a mule in Las Villas province, Cuba, in November 1958, with an M2 Carbine.
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