| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Arms [1] |
| Founded | 1889 [1] |
| Headquarters | Herstal, Belgium [1] |
| Key people | |
| Products | Firearms [1] |
| Employees | 3,000 [1] |
| Website | www.fnherstal.com www.fnhusa.com |
Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal — self identified as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN — is a firearms manufacturer located in Herstal, Belgium.[1]
FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns U.S. Repeating Arms Company (Winchester) and Browning Arms Company.[1] FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities: FN Manufacturing and FNH USA.[1] FN Manufacturing, located in Columbia, South Carolina, is the manufacturing branch of FN Herstal in the United States, producing firearms such as the M249 and M240 machine guns and M16 rifle, among others.[1] FNH USA, located in McLean, Virginia, is the sales and marketing branch of FN Herstal in the United States.[1]
Firearms designed and/or manufactured by FN include the Browning Hi-Power pistol, Five-seven pistol, FAL rifle, FNC rifle, F2000 rifle, P90 submachine gun, M2 Browning machine gun, MAG machine gun, and Minimi machine gun[1]—most of which have been very successful for the company.[2] FN Herstal's firearms are used by the armed forces of over 100 countries.[3]
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FN originated in the small city of Herstal, near Liège. The Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (French for National Factory of Weapons of War) was established in 1889 to manufacture 150,000 Mauser Model 89 rifles ordered by the Belgian Government.[1] In 1897 the company entered into a long-lasting relationship with John Moses Browning, a well-known firearms designer.[1] FN was an important manufacturer of motor vehicles in Belgium. Cars were produced in Herstal in the early 1900s. Production of FN motorcycles continued until 1965, and production of trucks until 1970.
One of Fabrique Nationale's handguns, a Model 1910 semi-automatic pistol in 9.00×17 mm (.380 ACP) (serial number 19074) was one of four weapons that were taken from the assassins of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, although it is unknown which of the four weapons actually fired the fatal round. The British .303 Browning aircraft machine gun introduced in the late 1930s and used in World War II was actually a license-built FN Browning design, not a "Colt-Browning" as often claimed.
John Moses Browning began development of the Browning GP35 'High Power' (sometimes written as Hi-Power) pistol, the GP standing for Grande Puissance or "high power" in French. However, the weapon was finalized by Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until nearly a decade after Browning's death.
The FN Manufacturing LLC plant in Columbia, South Carolina is part of the military division of FN. It is primarily responsible for the production of U.S. military weapons, such as M16 rifles, M249 light machine guns, M240 machine guns, and M2 machine guns.[1]
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