Ares Shrike 5.56

The Ares Shrike 5.56 is an air cooled, gas operated rifle and light machine gun platform firing 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition, introduced in 2002 by Ares Defense Systems and now produced by Fightlite Industries. It is sold both as a complete weapon and as an upper receiver kit that converts an existing AR-15 or M16 rifle, and it can feed from standard STANAG magazines, 100 round drum magazines or disintegrating ammunition belts of 100 or 200 rounds. Weighing about 3.4 kilograms, lighter than comparable squad automatic weapons such as the M249, it uses a quick change barrel and a MIL-STD-1913 rail for mounting sights and accessories.