A Brief History of the AR-15

Financial issues forced Armalite to sell its patent to Colt in 1959 who began marketing the rifle to the U.S. military and, in 1960, found an advocate for the AR-15 in famed U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay who wanted to replace the M-2 carbine issued to Air Force security personnel. [<a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=383" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Colt sold the first AR-15s</a>] to British forces in Malaya (today, Malaysia). In 1961, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sent AR-15 rifles to U.S. Army Special Forces fighting in South Vietnam. <a href="https://medium.com/armedwithreason/a-brief-history-of-the-ar-15-90f5c6084fa3">Website</a>