Бельгиялық қару-жарақ өндірушісі FN Herstal тарихы

Belgian firearms manufacturer

, trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale, Factory National, or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium, and former vehicle manufacturer. It was the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe
FN Herstal is owned by the Herstal Group holding company, which is in turn owned by the regional government of Wallonia. The Herstal Group also owns the Browning Arms Company and the U. S. Repeating Arms Company (Winchester).<! FN Manufacturing, located in Columbia, South Carolina, was the manufacturing branch of FN Herstal in the United States, producing firearms such as the M249 and M240 machine guns and the M16 rifle, among others. FN Herstal's firearms are used by the armed forces of over 100 countries.

FN Herstal 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. In 1973, FN changed its name to reflect a diversified product line far beyond just military Small Arms and Firearms manufacturing, adopting the current name of Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal. One of Fabrique Nationale's handguns, a Model 1910 semi automatic pistol in 9×17mm (.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 fired the fatal round. Browning began the development of the GP35 "High Power" pistol, the GP standing for Grande Puissance (French for high power), which is well known as the Browning Hi Power. The weapon was finalized by FN's Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until 1935, nearly a decade after Browning's death; it remained in production until 2017. 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.