Developed by the ArmaLite division of the fairchild aircraft company throughout the late 50's and 60's. It would be first adopted by the U.S. air force then the navy and army. The M16 earned the distrust of many U.S. soldier in the jungles of Vietnam due to early defects in production and the lack of cleaning kits because they were "self-cleaning". The introduction of the M16A1 would fix a majority of problems experienced and win back trust of most soldiers. The M16 and its variants have become the back bone of U.S. small arms and has proven to be very effective despite multiple attempts to find a superior rifle.