MSBS rifle

MSBS-5.56
An MSBS-5.56B (above) and MSBS-5.56K (below)
Type Assault Rifle
Place of origin Poland
Service history
Used by Ministry of National Defence[1]
Representative Honor Guard Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces[2]
Prison Service (Poland)
Production history
Manufacturer FB "Łucznik" Radom
Variants See Variants
Specifications
Weight 3.7 kg (8.2 lb) (MSBS-5.56K)
3.4 kg (7.5 lb) (MSBS-5.56B)
Length 980 mm (39 in) (MSBS-5.56K, stock extended)
720 mm (28 in) (MSBS-5.56B)
Cartridge 5.56×45mm NATO
Action Short-stroke gas piston, rotating bolt
Rate of fire 700–900 RPM
Muzzle velocity 890 m/s
Effective firing range 500 m (547 yd)
Feed system 30-, 60-round detachable magazines and STANAG magazines
Sights Integrated Picatinny rail for various optical sights and Picatinny attachable iron sights
MSBS-7.62S
Type Assault rifle
Place of origin Poland
Production history
Manufacturer FB "Łucznik" Radom
Specifications
Cartridge 7.62×39mm
Action Short-stroke gas piston, rotating bolt
Feed system 30-round detachable box magazines (STANAG compatible)
Sights Integrated Picatinny rail for various optical sights and Picatinny attachable iron sights
MSBS-7.62N
Type Battle rifle
Place of origin Poland
Production history
Manufacturer FB "Łucznik" Radom
Specifications
Cartridge 7.62×51mm NATO
Action Short-stroke gas piston, rotating bolt
Feed system 20-round detachable SR-25 magazines
Sights Integrated Picatinny rail for various optical sights and Picatinny attachable iron sights

The WAT-FB MSBS-5.56 (Polish: Modułowy System Broni Strzeleckiej kalibru 5,56 mm, English: Modular Firearm System 5.56 mm calibre), also known as Grot,[3] is a modular assault rifle currently developed and manufactured by FB "Łucznik" Radom to become the next service rifle of the Polish Armed Forces. There are two basic variants currently being developed that is based on a common upper receiver: a conventional variant and a bullpup variant. With its variety of modules, both variants can be easily transformed into an assault rifle, carbine, designated marksman rifle or squad automatic weapon.[4] A variant chambered in 7.62×39mm was also developed and designated as the MSBS-7.62S.

The MSBS-7.62N is a battle rifle variant of the MSBS that has entered the prototype phase, chambered for the full-power 7.62×51mm NATO rifle round, to be featured during MSPO in the autumn of 2016. Planned variations include a designated marksman rifle, a sniper support rifle, and a support weapon for deployment with parachute infantry.

History

The current service rifle of the Polish Armed Forces is the kbs wz. 96 Beryl, developed from the kbk AKM. However, despite various upgrades, the Beryl is now considered both outdated by modern standards and impossible to improve further. Because of that, work on a completely new family of assault rifles was started in Poland.

The rifle has been in development since 2007 by the WAT (Military Academy of Technology) in Warsaw in cooperation with the arms manufacturer FB Radom. The weapon is said to be operating on completely distinct internal mechanics. No further information has been disclosed however. The external design was conceived by a separate team (Adam Gawron, Bartosz Stefaniak, Grzegorz Misiołek, Maciej Sajdak) working alongside mechanical engineers.[5][6]

At SHOT Show 2015, representatives of Łucznik said that in 2015 they planned to open a factory in Texas and make the MSBS available to US customers, possibly as early as December 2015.[7]

One of the major advantages of a modular weapon system is the simplified logistics, because of the interchangeable parts between different weapon types, so fewer different parts need to be stored. If necessary, a soldier can sacrifice, for example, one standard assault rifle to repair a light machine gun. Another benefit may include ease of barrel changeability, as found on the Steyr AUG. This means a soldier may be able to adapt their rifle based on the environment they are in, such as converting a carbine to a designated marksman rifle, to be able to engage targets at a greater range, if the situation requires it. The benefits of this feature allow a squad to have fewer unique weapons.

In February 2018, the 42nd Light Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Defence Force became the first unit issued the rifle.[8]

Variants

The following variants were designed based on the requests from the Polish Armed Forces to replace currently used firearms such as the AKM, FB Beryl, FB Mini-Beryl, and Pallad grenade launcher.

  • MSBS-5.56K (Polish: klasyczny, English: classic) – "Conventional" variant that is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge with folding and retractable stock.
  • MSBS-5.56B (Polish: bezkolbowy, English: bullpup) – Bullpup variant that is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge.
The MSBS-5.56 is a selective fire modular assault rifle which is capable of semi-automatic fire, 3-round burst fire and fully automatic fire. The MSBS-5.56K and MSBS-5.56B have a cyclic rate of fire of around 700–900 rounds per minute (RPM). They have many common interchangeable parts and can be converted from one to the other.[9][10]
Both are offered in 5 different configurations:
  • Assault rifle – a standard assault rifle configuration with 16 in (410 mm) barrel.
  • Assault rifle with underbarrel grenade launcher – similar to the assault rifle configuration but with a 40×46mm underbarrel grenade launcher equipped.
  • Carbine – a short barrel variant with a 10 in (250 mm) barrel.
  • Carbine with underbarrel grenade launcher – similar to the carbine configuration but with a 40×46mm underbarrel grenade launcher equipped.
  • Squad automatic weapon – a variant equipped with a heavy, thick profile and a 16 in (410 mm) barrel.
  • Designated marksman rifle – is equipped with a 16 in (410 mm) barrel and a two stage trigger group.
  • MSBS-5.56R – is a parade variant designed to be used by honor guards which has been adapted to fire blanks and withstand drills. With the modularity of the MSBS system the barrel of the MSBS-5.56R can easily be swapped to fire live ammunition.
  • MSBS-7.62S (Soviet) – is an assault rifle variant chambered in 7.62×39mm cartridge.
  • MSBS-7.62N (NATO) – is a prototype battle rifle variant chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. It uses the conventional configuration of the MSBS system.
  • Battle rifle – requested by airborne units, to increase firepower of every squad with a weapon firing a full-power rifle round. This variant will have a 406 mm (16.0 in) barrel with a similar folding and adjustable stock as to the standard MSBS assault rifle.
  • Designated marksman rifle – new precision rifle to replace the SWD semi-automatic sniper rifle and supplement the bolt-action TRG-22 and Tor sniper rifles currently in service. This variant is to have a 508 mm (20.0 in) barrel, and is to be outfitted with a non-folding, fully adjustable stock.

Since the Polish MoD ordered 53,000 MSBS rifles, Fabryka Broni has introduced a military naming system for the MSBS family:
Grot - new name for the MSBS rifle.
C, B, R - classic, bullpup or representative variant
10, 16, 20 - barrel length in inches
G, M, PS - assault rifle with grenade launcher, machine gun, marksman rifle (standard assault rifle has no sign for this)
FB - Fabryka Broni, manufactuer of this weapon
Mx - number of series (x stands for number, for examples, M1 means first series)
In this case, Grot C16FB-M1 means assault rifle in classic variant from first series manufactured by Fabryka Broni. The name Grot means arrowhead in Polish and refers to general Stefan Rowecki's pseudonym.

Users

Current users

  •  Poland - Around 800 examples of Grot R20FB-M1 and Grot R20FB-M2 are in use or on order, 53,000 examples of Grot C16FB-M1 (military name for MSBS-5,56K assault variant) on order. Some of them will be equipped with grenade launcher.[11][3]

Potential users

Failed bids

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Altair Agencja Lotnicza". Altair.com.pl. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Altair Agencja Lotnicza". Altair.com.pl. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Umowa na 53 tysiące karabinków Grot. W tym roku armia dostanie tysiąc sztuk". Polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Radon MSBS-5.56: Poland's New Battle Rifle". Small Arms Defense Journal. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  5. ↑ ""Nowy MSBS-5,56"". Altair.com.pl. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "Nowa Technika Wojskowa: "Nowy MSBS-5,56"". Magnum-x.pl. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "MSBS "Radon" Rifle: US Launch & Impressions". The Firearm Blog. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Remigiusz, Wilk (13 February 2018). "Poland introduces Grot rifle". IHS Jane's 360. Warsaw. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "» MSBS". Fabrykabroni.pl. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  10. ↑ "Polish Rifles for the Polish Armed Forces. MSBS Modular Firearms System". Defence24.com. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  11. ↑ "53 Thousand Grot Rifles for the Polish Armed Forces. Contract Concluded". Defence24.com. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  12. ↑ http://www.defence24.com/first-batch-of-the-msbs-grot-rifles-symbolically-received-by-the-polish-territorial-defence-forces#top-carousel
  13. ↑ Reisenbuk, Karel (22 November 2017). "Kaitseväe automaatrelvade hankele kvalifitseerus üheksa tootjat". www.postimees.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  14. ↑ Lauri, Vahur (31 January 2018). "Automaatrelvade hankele esitas pakkumuse neli tootjat". www.err.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.

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