Knight's Armament Company (KAC) is an American

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s and firearms parts

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

, known for producing the Rail Interface System (RIS) and the Rail Adapter System (RAS) grips for firearms use. The company produces a variety of firearms, including AR-15-style rifles. KAC is owned by C. Reed Knight and is based in

Titusville, Florida Titusville is a city in and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 48,789, up from 43,761 at the 2010 census. Titusville is located along the ...

. Knight's Manufacturing Company (KMC) is the division of KAC responsible for producing products for the civilian market.

History

The

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

, as well as other special forces and police around the world, use KAC RIS/RAS conversions for many popular firearms, including the American M16/ M4 rifles and

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

series

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

s. The RIS/RAS system allows for the mounting of accessories to firearms without additional tools or modifications. The system is utilized alongside a KAC suppressor and forward grip on the "Special Operations Peculiar MODification" ( SOPMOD) M4 carbine package in use by

United States Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States A ...

(USSOCOM). The mounted accessories can include tactical flashlights, laser targeting units,

bipod A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix and Greek root , meaning "two" and "foot" respectively. Bipods are design ...

s, and

vertical foregrip A vertical forward grip or foregrip is a vertical pistol grip mounted on the forearm (firearm component), fore-end of a long gun, long-barrel firearm, designed for grasping by the frontal support hand (or "off hand"). Use Forward grips aid i ...

s. KAC produces sound suppressors for the Heckler & Koch Mark 23 SOCOM pistol. KAC also produces a line of clip-on night vision and thermal weapon sights, including the AN/PVS-22 Universal Night Sight. KAC produces mounts for optics and grenade launchers, as well as backup iron sights. Knight's Armament produces a line of firearms including the semi-automatic SR-15 line of rifles, the fully automatic SR-16 carbine, the semi-automatic SR-25 sniper rifle, the SR-25 based Mark 11 Mod 0 Sniper Weapon System, and the

M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System The M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System (M110 SASS) is an American Semi-automatic firearm, semi-automatic sniper rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round. It is manufactured by Knight's Armament Company, developed from the Knight's A ...

. KAC designed and produces the Knight's Armament Company PDW and also produces the Stoner LMG in limited quantities. In 2011, KAC released the SR15/SR16 E3 line of rifles. In September 2023, the company was selected to provide the Knight's Stoner 1 variant of its SR-16 rifle to the British Army Special Operations Brigade and to the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

References

External links

* {{Knight's Armament Company Companies based in Brevard County, Florida Firearm manufacturers of the United States Titusville, Florida 1982 establishments in Florida Manufacturing companies based in Florida Manufacturing companies established in 1982