FN FAL rifle. As the main competitor AK-47 helps Ukraine in the war with the Russian Federation

The history of the development of the Belgian rifle goes by the roots in the postwar period. The first FN FAL prototype was created in 1946. He had a 7. 92x33 mm Kurz caliber, which was developed and used by the Germans in their assault rifle Sturmgewehr 44. The FN FAL developer was two engineers of Diedonne Sev and Ernest Vervier. In a couple of years, the United Kingdom has asked the manufacturer to create a FN FAL under the 7x43 mm caliber and in the Bulpa Configuration.

After the FN evaluation, it was decided to abandon Bulpa and focus on traditional weapons design. The need to create a machine is explained by the experience of World War II. Countries have recognized the efficiency and importance of personal automatic armament for infantry. Nazi Germany has created an intermediate Kurz caliber, which is more powerful than a gun and smaller than rifles.

Since the beginning of the development of FN FAL, the Belgians created a rifle under different calibers: in 1953, the FN FAL serial production began and the first adoption in Canada under Canada called C1, the United Kingdom - L1 SLR and other countries. In addition, Belgium, Austria, United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil buy the right to license light rifles. Later, 7. 62x51 mm became the main caliber in NATO countries.

There is an unofficial version that the states were to be adopted by FN FAL, and the Alliance countries take the T65 cartridge (according to other T25 data). However, if this arrangement existed, then the US did not comply with the conditions and adopted M14. Later in 1976, NATO countries decided to conduct compatible tests of balls of slightly smaller caliber. The result of joint work of 11 countries was the creation of a cartridge of 5. 56x45 mm, which is still being used.

Since the beginning of 1953, the manufacture of FN FAL has not been stopped. Some countries use and produce them now. Since the beginning of mass production, more than 2 million rifles have been made. FN FAL quickly began to gain popularity since the late 1950s. Especially after the British successfully used the FN Fal rifle against the communist uprising in Malaysia.

In addition to the US, all NATO countries have switched to FN FAL, so it became a major weapon to protect the Flag Flag in the 60s, 70s, 80s. It is believed that the Belgian rifle became the main competitor of the Soviet AK-47. In the 1980s, the popularity of FN Fal reached its peak-more than 90 countries were used. During this time, the FN FAL form improved to meet the conditions of time.

Modifications with a shortened version for the commandos were created, with a compiled example, with a shortened trunk and a compiled example for landing and others. The rifle has gained such widespread popularity thanks to the efforts of the British to sell L1A1 in their former colonies in Africa and Asia.

Weapons were not everywhere effective, but because of the polarization of the world and the large number of conflicts in Africa and Asia FN FAL in different variants, it still gained popularity. In addition, the 7. 62x51 caliber was more deadly than the Soviet 7. 62x39. In his almost 80-year history, FN FAL has managed to conquer on almost all continents in different versions. These include only a short list of conflicts and wars that used FN FAL. However, there are several points to note.

In climatic, Israel Fn Fal was not very effective because of the vulnerability of the construction to dust, so the Israel Defense Army switched to the American M-16. The military used FN FAL during the six -day war against Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq with Algeria. In October 2022, it became known that the Belgian Rifles of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces FN FAL PARA appeared - a version with a compound example and a barrel length of 533 mm. The number of weapons transmitted is unknown.

The Ukrainian military received rifles with a barrel of type 3, which dates from release after 1973. In The Armourer's Bench, they contacted one of the Ukrainian defenders to find out what he thinks about Belgian weapons. The mortar platoon commander Michael stated that he liked the rifle and there was only one malfunction during operation. During an intense battle, the sleeve jammed, but the problem was solved quickly. Another military also received Fn Fal Para instead of Ukrainian UAR-10.

He noted that the Belgian rifle is very demanding and does not like dirt, and it is a little more difficult than AK, which is felt in battles. In automatic mode of fire, the machine becomes very inaccurate, and everything changes during firing single shots. In general, the military is not very satisfied with FN Fal, he said, "In my opinion, it is already outdated, not practical and often very inconvenient. " Both soldiers defended Bakhmut at the beginning of the year.