FB MSBS Grot

The FB MSBS Grot (Polish: Modułowy System Broni Strzeleckiej kalibru 5,56 mm, English: Modular Firearm System 5.56 mm calibre) is a modular assault rifle developed and manufactured by FB "Łucznik" Radom.

FB MSBS Grot
The MSBS Grot C 16 FB-M1
TypeAssault Rifle
Place of originPoland
Service history
Used byMinistry of National Defence[1]
Representative Honor Guard Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces[2]
Prison Service (Poland)
Production history
ManufacturerFB "Łucznik" Radom
VariantsSee Variants
Specifications
Mass3.7 kg (8.2 lb) (MSBS Grot C)
3.4 kg (7.5 lb) (MSBS Grot B)
Length980 mm (39 in) (MSBS Grot C, stock extended)
720 mm (28 in) (MSBS Grot B)
Cartridge5.56×45mm NATO
7.62×39mm
ActionShort-stroke gas piston, rotating bolt
Rate of fire700–900 RPM
Muzzle velocity890 m/s
Effective firing range500 m (547 yd)
Feed system30-, 60-round 5.56×45mm NATO detachable magazines and STANAG magazines
30-round detachable 7.62×39mm box magazines (STANAG compatible)
SightsIntegrated Picatinny rail for various optical sights and Picatinny attachable iron sights

The Grot name has been added to the MSBS after the official adoption of the rifle by the Polish Armed Forces.[3]

There are two basic configurations of the rifle that is based on a common upper receiver; a conventional layout and a bullpup layout. With its variety of modules, both configurations can be easily configured into an assault rifle, carbine, designated marksman rifle, or squad automatic weapon.[4] The rifle can also be chambered in 7.62×39mm cartridge.

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 However, despite various upgrades, the Beryl is now considered both outdated by modern standards and impossible to improve further.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] This, however, never materialized, and the US branch of Łucznik was dissolved in 2017.[8]

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.[9]

Variants
The MSBS Grot B (above) and MSBS Grot C (below).

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.

The MSBS GROT is a selective fire modular assault rifle which is capable of semi-automatic, 3-round burst and fully automatic fire. It has a cyclic rate of fire of around 700–900 rounds per minute (RPM).

  • MSBS Grot C (Polish: klasyczny, English: classic) is the classic variant of the rifle chambered in either 5.56×45mm NATO or 7.62×39mm cartridge with folding and retractable stock.[10]
  • MSBS Grot B (Polish: bezkolbowy, English: bullpup) – is the bullpup variant of the rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge.
  • MSBS Grot R – is the representative variant of the rifle designed to be used by honour guards which has been adapted to fire blanks and withstand drills. With the modularity of the rifle, the barrel can easily be swapped to fire live ammunition.

Both the Classic and Bullpup variants are offered in 5 different configurations and have many common interchangeable parts and can be converted from one to the other.[11][12]:

  • 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.

Since the Polish Military of Defence ordered 53,000 of the MSBS assault rifles, Fabryka Broni has introduced a military naming designation for the MSBS series.

Grot – After the official adoption of the rifle by the Polish Armed Forces, the Grot name was added.

C, B, R – variants, classic, bullpup, or representative.

10, 16, 20 – barrel lengths, in inches.

G, M, PS – configurations, assault rifle with grenade launcher, light machine gun, marksman rifle

FB – Fabryka Broni, the manufacturer of this weapon system.

M(x) – number of series (x stands for the generation, for examples, M1 means first generation)

In this case, MSBS Grot C 16 FB-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.

MSBS-762N derivative
MSBS-7.62N
TypeDesignated Marksman Rifle
Place of originPoland
Production history
ManufacturerFB "Łucznik" Radom
Specifications
Cartridge7.62×51mm NATO
ActionShort-stroke gas piston, rotating bolt
Feed system20-round detachable SR-25 magazines
SightsIntegrated Picatinny rail for various optical sights and Picatinny attachable iron sights

The MSBS-7.62N is a semi-automatic sniper rifle/designated marksman rifle chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.

The MSBS-762N project began in the end of 2015 when Polish Military of Defence announced analytical works for the replacement program of their SVD Dragunov sniper rifle and supplement the bolt-action TRG-22 and Tor sniper rifles currently in service. It was led by the team of Fabryka Broni Łucznik-Radom and Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna (WAT) engineers.[13]

The MSBS-762N has two different configurations; one with a 508 mm (20 in) barrel with a fixed adjustable stock and the other with 406 mm (16 in) barrel with the MSBS Grot C's adjustable side-folding stock. Both configurations are part of the MSBS family and some of the parts of the rifle, such as the stock, handguard, pistol grip, and trigger are interchangeable between 5.56m and 7.62m models.[13][14]

The MSBS-762N is designed as a semi-automatic rifle but project engineers declared that a fully automatic configuration can be developed if required.[13]

In September, 2019 the MSBS-762N was officially announced at MSPO 2019.[14]

Users

Current users
  •  Poland: Around 800 MSBS Grot R 20 FB-M1 and MSBS Grot R 20 FB-M2 are in use or on order, and around 53,000 MSBS Grot C 16 FB-M1 are on order. Some of them will be equipped with a grenade launcher.[15][16][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. "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. Turczyn, Andrzej (26 July 2017). "FB Radom USA LLC, czyli spółka która miała handlować bronią z Radomia w USA, została zlikwidowana" (in Polish). Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  9. 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.
  10. twobirdsflyingpub (29 June 2018). "PGZ SMALL ARMS–EUROSATORY 2018 (CONTINUED)". FOG HORN. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  11. "» MSBS". Fabrykabroni.pl. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  12. "Polish Rifles for the Polish Armed Forces. MSBS Modular Firearms System". Defence24.com. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. Out! #21, Frag (2 September 2018). "FB Radom MSBS-7,62N .308 Win". Frag Out! Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  14. www.armyrecognition.com https://www.armyrecognition.com/mspo_2019_news_official_show_daily/mspo_2019_new_sniper_rifle_based_on_msbs-grot_assault_rifle.html. Retrieved 17 November 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "grot-dla-co-trzeciego-polskiego-zolnierza-podpisano-zamowienia". Defence24.com. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  16. "53 Thousand Grot Rifles for the Polish Armed Forces. Contract Concluded - Defence24.com". www.defence24.com. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  17. http://www.defence24.com/first-batch-of-the-msbs-grot-rifles-symbolically-received-by-the-polish-territorial-defence-forces#top-carousel
  18. https://www.milmag.pl/news/view?news_id=1761
  19. https://quwa.org/2017/11/20/pakistani-delegation-visited-poland-discuss-potential-assault-rifle-program/
  20. Reisenbuk, Karel (22 November 2017). "Kaitseväe automaatrelvade hankele kvalifitseerus üheksa tootjat". www.postimees.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  21. Lauri, Vahur (31 January 2018). "Automaatrelvade hankele esitas pakkumuse neli tootjat". www.err.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.

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