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Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (French for: National Factory of Herstal) — self identified as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN — is a leading firearms manufacturer located in Herstal, Belgium, owned by the regional government of Wallonia.〔 It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns U.S. Repeating Arms Company (Winchester) and Browning Arms Company.〔 FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities: FN Manufacturing and FNH USA.〔 FN Manufacturing, located in Columbia, South Carolina, is the manufacturing branch of FN Herstal in the United States, producing firearms such as the M249 and M240 machine guns and M16 rifle, among others.〔 FNH USA, located in McLean, Virginia, is the sales and marketing branch of FN Herstal in the United States.〔 Firearms designed and/or manufactured by FN include the Browning Hi-Power pistol, Five-seven pistol, FAL rifle, FNC rifle, F2000 rifle, P90 submachine gun, M2 Browning machine gun, MAG machine gun, and Minimi machine gun〔—all of which have been very successful for the company.〔Miller, David (2001). ''The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns''. Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84065-245-4.〕 FN Herstal's firearms are used by the armed forces of over 100 nations. ==History== FN 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.〔 FN was co-founded by the major arms makers of the Liège region, with Henri Pieper of Anciens Etablissements Pieper being the driving force and the primary shareholder of the new company. In 1897 the company entered into a long-lasting relationship with John Moses Browning, a well-known firearms designer.〔 FN was an important manufacturer of motor vehicles in Belgium, a development championed by Alexandre Galopin as managing director. Cars were produced in Herstal in the early 1900s until 1935. Production of FN motorcycles continued until 1965, and production of trucks until 1970. In 1973, FN changed its name to reflect a product line diversified far beyond just "weapons of war", adopting the current name of ''Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal''.〔Stevens, R. Blake ''The Browning High Power Automatic Pistol''. Collector Grade Publications (1990). ISBN 978-0-88935-089-2.〕 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 actually fired the fatal round. John Moses Browning began development of the Browning GP35 'High Power' (sometimes written as ''Hi-Power'') pistol, the ''GP'' standing for ''Grande Puissance'' or "high power" in French. However, the weapon was finalized by Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until nearly a decade after Browning's death. 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「FN Herstal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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