The Atelier de Construction de Puteaux (APX) (English translation: "Puteaux Construction Workshops") was a state

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

belonging to the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

. It was located at 8, quai national in

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting th ...

History

Atelier de Construction de Puteaux was in charge of making

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

and carrying out tests. The factories also produced small and medium-sized equipment (

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

and

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

), while the so-called “manufacturing” workshops produced larger equipment ( artillery pieces). Atelier de Construction de Puteaux disappeared after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, being transferred to

Satory Satory is an area south of Versailles in France. It is mostly known for its military camp, housing: * Weapon-testing facilities of Nexter Systems * Barracks and facilities for Gendarmerie including the GIGN headquarters and the Mobile Genda ...

and merged with

Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux {{unreferenced, date=May 2017 The Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (English translation: construction workshops of Issy-les-Moulineaux) were born from the nationalization of the Renault factories in Issy-les-Moulineaux in 1936. They w ...

(AMX), which specialized in the construction of tanks and other armored vehicles. Atelier de Construction de Puteaux had two responsibilities: To design new weapons for the

. It specialized in

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

and medium caliber weapons and their accessories: such as

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

s, cannon, tank turrets,

Telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a '' reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate ...

s for rifles,

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

s etc. And for serial production of those weapons, alone or concurrently with other factories.

Atelier de Construction de Puteaux achievements

Arms

* 1888 : prototype of

Berthier rifle The Berthier rifles and carbines were a family of bolt-action small arms in 8mm Lebel, used in the French Army, and French Colonial Forces, from the 1890s to the beginning of World War II (1940). After the introduction of the Lebel rifle in 1886 ...

. * 1905 : Puteaux modèle 1905 machine gun. Only a few hundred copies were made because of its many defects. It was simplified and mass produced by the

Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne The ''Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', often abbreviated to MAS ("Saint-Étienne Weapons Factory" in English) was a French state-owned weapons manufacturer in the town of Saint-Étienne, Loire. Founded in 1764, it was merged into the ...

(MAS) as the St. Étienne Mle 1907 and used in the two world wars. * 1915 : prototype of the ''Fusil Mitrailleur Modele'' 1915 CSRG, better known as "Chauchat". * 1918 : 37 mm semi-automatic cannon model 1918 (37 mm SA 18) for

light tank A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...

s. * 1935 :

25 mm APX modèle 1937 The 25 mm APX modèle 1937 or Canon de 25 mm semi-automatique modèle 1937 was a French anti-tank gun that saw service in the first years of the Second World War. Design The mle 1937 was a lightened and lengthened version of the Hotch ...

, shortened version of the light 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun. * 1938 : 75mm high-velocity APX gun for the

ARL V 39 The ARL V 39, also known as the ARL 1940 V939 40, was a prototype armored fighting vehicle, designed to meet France's demands for a new self-propelled assault gun, prior to World War II. Only two complete and functional prototypes were produced, ...

, modified from the 75mm 1929 casemate fortress gun. * 1969 : Rapid anti-tank weapon (ACRA).

Weapon accessories

* 1957 : firing scope of the

MAS-49 rifle The MAS-49 is a French semi-automatic rifle that replaced various bolt-action rifles as the French service rifle that was produced from 1949. It was designed and manufactured by the government-owned MAS arms factory.Huon, Jean; ''Proud Promise— ...

Tank turret

* 1934 : APX 3B turret fitted on the

Panhard 178 The Panhard 178 (officially designated as ''Automitrailleuse de Découverte Panhard modèle 1935'', 178 being the internal project number at Panhard) or "Pan-Pan" was an advanced French reconnaissance 4x4 armoured car that was designed for the ...

. * 1935 : APX 5 turret mounted on the AMR 35 ZT 2 and

Gendron-Somua AMR 39 The Gendron-Somua AMR 39 was a prototype French armoured car. History 12 years after the end of World War I, the French fleet of armoured cars was still made up of obsolete White AM armoured car. On 16 January 1932, the High Command of the ...

. * 1936 : APX standard turret fitted on the prototype of the Hotchkiss H35, prototype of the

Renault R35 The Renault R35, an abbreviation of ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 onwards and produced from 1936, the type was intended as an infantry support light tank, eq ...

and the

FCM 36 The FCM 36 or ''Char léger Modèle 1936 FCM'', was a light infantry tank that was designed for the French Army prior to World War II. It had a crew of two and was equipped with a short 37 mm main armament and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine g ...

. * 1938 : APX-R turret fitted on the H39 variant of the Hotchkiss H35, the

and the

Renault R40 The Renault R40 or Char léger modèle 1935 R modifié 1939 was a French light infantry tank that was used early in World War II, an improvement of the Renault R35, of which it is often considered a variant. Development In the late thirties, ther ...

. A APX-R tank turret was planned to be mounted on the AMX 38.

References

{{Reflist Motor vehicle assembly plants in France Weapons manufacturing companies Defence companies of France Manufacturing companies based in Paris