Home Europe FN Herstal lands Norwegian light machine gun contract

FN Herstal lands Norwegian light machine gun contract

Minimi light machine gun
Photo: FN Herstal

The Norwegian defense ministry recently awarded FN Herstal a multi-year contract for the production and delivery of up to 4,000 FN Minimi Mk3 (3rd generation) light machine guns in 7.62x51mm NATO caliber and associated initial spare parts.

The contract covers a 7-year delivery period and includes maintenance and support equipment over a 20-year period.

This decision concludes a program that was initiated by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence more than two years ago and included a series of technical evaluations and commercial negotiations in which FN Herstal competed against three American suppliers.

Norway thus becomes the 37th country to select and standardize the FN Minimi 7.62 for its armed forces.

“The Norwegian decision is yet more proof of the trust placed in FN Herstal by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence which, already in 2010, awarded a first sizeable contract for the supply of first-generation FN Minimi light machine guns, at that time in 5.56x45mm NATO caliber, ” the company said.

The 3rd generation of the Minimi offers improved ergonomics and improved mobility, thanks to an adjustable buttstock, a bipod that integrates with the handguard, and a feed tray that allows loading with one hand. The gun comes standard with a 422mm long barrel in tactical (adjustable buttstock), para (telescopic buttstock) and standard (fixed buttstock) variants.

The gun weighs around 8.8 kg and has a cyclic rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute.