Belgium Sends 3000 Assault Rifles and 200 Anti-tank Grenade Launchers to Ukraine

Ukraine will receive 3,000 assault rifles and 200 anti-tank grenade launchers from Belgium, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a tweet on Sunday. According to the office of the Belgian Ministers of Defence, these are weapons of the FNC type, an assault rifle manufactured by FN Herstal. These weapons are gradually being replaced within the Belgian armed forces by the FN SCAR. The FNCs are therefore collected with a view to being sent to Ukraine. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Saturday noon on Twitter that some 2,000 machine guns would be sent to the country, while a more in-depth analysis of arms requests was underway. Belgium will also deliver 3,800 tonnes of fuel.

The FNC (French: Fabrique Nationale Carabine) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed by the Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal and introduced in the late 1970s. The FNC was finally adopted by the Belgian Armed Forces in 1989, as a service-wide replacement for the 7.62×51mm NATO FN FAL, after having been issued in small numbers to airborne infantry units for several years. The FNC is a selective fire weapon that uses a gas-operated long-stroke piston system and a rotating bolt locking mechanism equipped with two locking lugs that engage corresponding recesses in the barrel extension. The bolt is rotated and unlocked by the interaction of the bolt’s cam pin with a camming guide contained in the bolt carrier.

Fabrique Nationale Herstal (English: National Factory Herstal), self-identified as FN Herstal or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer located in Herstal, Belgium, owned by the holding company Herstal Group which is in turn owned by the regional government of Wallonia. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. Firearms designed and/or manufactured by FN include the Browning Hi-Power and Five-seven pistols, the FAL, FNC, F2000 and SCAR rifles, the P90 submachine gun, the M2 Browning, MAG, Minimi and the FN Evolys machine guns: all have been commercially successful. FN Herstal’s firearms are used by the militaries of over 100 countries.