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<H1>FN's New Paramilitary Paintball Gun & Less Lethal Weaponry</H1>
<P>By Robrt Bruce<BR><BR>
<I>“The time has come to add ‘less lethal’ products to FN’s line of traditional
small arms.”</I> Louis Dillais, Director, FNH USA, Inc.<BR><BR>
The old and respected Belgian firm FABRIQUE NATIONALE enjoys a well-deserved
reputation for building some of the world’s best military, police and sporting
weaponry. Staggering numbers of classic bullet launchers like the High Power
pistol, the FAL rifle, and the Minimi squad automatic weapon have long been in
first line service.<BR><BR>
Innovation continues with the more recent P90 submachine gun and Five-seveN pistol,
both chambered for FN’s unique 5.7mm cartridge. Recent rumors of a Belgian
challenger to the US Army’s Objective Individual Combat Weapon have been confirmed,
providing strong evidence of the firm’s commitment to cutting-edge research and
development.<BR><BR>
But, while FN holds an enviable place among leading small arms manufacturers for
conventional land conflict, it has not until now been competitive in the arena of
what is euphemistically called “less lethal.”<BR><BR>
There are many non-lethal options available now and some of these have been around
for decades. Tear gas, pepper spray, stun guns, “rubber bullets,” water cannon and
the like are tried and true tools when the situation gets ugly but not ugly enough
to justify terminally perforating the miscreants. Each of these has both
capabilities and limitations that must be carefully balanced. None can be
considered ideal in itself for the endless variety of situations presented now or
steadily evolving. What to do?<BR><BR>
<B>Less Lethal</B><BR><BR>
Taking the initiative, FN has recently introduced some interesting new tools in the
category of “Less Lethal” (henceforth known here as LTL), a nomenclature formalized
by gurus in law enforcement to set this stuff apart from old fashioned handguns,
shotguns, rifles and the like.<BR><BR>
Small Arms Review was recently invited to cover FN’s American LTL premiere for law
enforcement and the military, held at CRUCIBLE Training Center, near
Fredericksburg, Virginia. CRUCIBLE is a major player with federal, military,
police and security personnel and its facilities are well located in close
proximity to concentrations of big name organizations in the Washington, DC
area.<BR><BR>
Louis Dillais, a former officer in French special operations, is FNH USA’s director
and served as host for approximately twenty attendees each day with a program that
including classroom instruction and an opportunity to view and participate in live
fire of three LL systems that are now offered by his parent company, FN Herstal,
also known as Herstal Group.<BR><BR>
<B>Paramilitary Paintball</B><BR><BR>
The first system shown by FN was the FN303, a strikingly configured assault rifle
style launcher that owes much to commercial paintball technology but with a
distinctive twist. Design engineer Jim Brunette of FN Manufacturing was up from
South Carolina to showcase his exciting new creation, enthusiastically explaining
its why’s and how’s, then fielding questions.<BR><BR>
Its quick detachable fifteen round drum magazine has a clear plastic cover facing
the shooter, allowing an instant status check of remaining shots as well as
anticipation of what type of cartridge is next in line for firing when mixed loads
are employed. Larger capacity mags may be in the works for fielding later.<BR><BR>
A Picatinny Rail interface is mounted on the top of the launcher, which allows
clamping on just about any type of sight that customers may prefer. The test guns
we handled had both rudimentary flip-up iron sights and the excellent new EO
holographic target tickler.<BR><BR>
<B>Stinkin’ Ammo?</B><BR><BR>
Another real beauty of this launch system is the clever design of its ammunition.
Where ordinary round paintballs are severely limited in range and accuracy by the
immutable laws of physics, the 303’s ammo is fin stabilized and relatively heavy.
While the barrel is a smoothbore 12 gauge size, the projectile is a stubby, domed
plastic cylinder with a series of slightly angled fins molded into the sides. On
firing, wind drag causes the projectile to spin, giving it much greater stability
than is possible with a ball. For consistency of aim and trajectory, their weight
is standardized at 8.5 grams each, regardless of the payload. Velocity is
necessarily limited by LL considerations when people are downrange so as to avoid
potentially fatal blunt trauma.<BR><BR>
Just about any kind of liquid, powder or solid payload is a fair candidate for
loading and launching, but right now the field includes six main categories. As
previously mentioned, the system will shoot ordinary commercial paintballs (just
think about how the guys at the local game field will react when you show up with
your FN303) for cheap fun and short range practice.<BR><BR>
Best performance comes, of course, from the specially configured ammo. Low
velocity impact rounds come in black or white one piece plastic housings and don’t
burst on impact. These are used for both marksmanship training/function
verification as well as in situations when it is desirable to “sting”
troublemakers. This is the round that punched big holes in the thick cardboard “E”
silhouettes set up at 50 yards as seen in the accompanying photos.<BR><BR>
Another category is marking rounds and this includes both washable and permanent
dyes as well as a type that shows up only under ultraviolet light. These have many
uses including identification of leaders or other key persons in mobs and
demonstrations. Illuminating rounds carry the same type of chemical mix commonly
used in break and glow lightsticks, both visible and infrared. They are
particularly useful in illuminating interiors to assist operators wearing NVG’s
(night vision goggles).<BR><BR>
Choking and tear agents are the fifth ammo category, filled with the customer’s
choice of such classic irritant powders as CS or CN. Yes, it takes a bunch of them
to really get the air fouled inside a room, but that’s another reason for the
fifteen round magazine and rapid semiauto delivery.<BR><BR>
The last category is my personal favorite and probably that of every other high
school jokester. Malodorants are a jolly group of super stink bomblets that spray
on impact their gag-inducing payload. It should be great fun to pop a few into the
middle of a room filled with angry protesters or individually apply “aroma de
skunka” to leaders of any sort of antisocial mob. Sorry ‘bout that...<BR><BR>
Not surprisingly, given the system’s capabilities, FN plans to offer the FN303 only
to bonafide law enforcement and military users. The basic package of launcher,
detachable buttstock, a couple of mags, plus hoses and air tank is being
offered.<BR><BR>
<B>SAMOURAI</B><BR><BR>
For such situations when the rather small 8.5 gram payload of the FN303 isn’t
nearly enough, a team from the French firm of Lacroix was also on hand with their
formidable SAMOURAI launcher, available through the FN organization. This
manportable mini cannon is in French military service now and is used for lots of
pretty spectacular tasks like blowing up bunkers, knocking down brick walls and
delivering heavy smoke generators. It throws 600 grams of whatever you care to
load, from high explosive to choke or stink, out to about 300 meters.<BR><BR>
While there are similar weapons in use elsewhere such at the US Marine Corps’ SMAW,
the French SAMOURAI is distinct in having nearly zero backblast and resultant
firing signature. This can be particularly important in urban warfare where
engagement of targets must routinely be done from inside buildings or in closely
confined alleyways.<BR><BR>
Taking a cue from existing smoke and flash-bang rounds already being used, Lacroix
engineers have developed other payload transporters containing irritants like CS
and CN. According to spokesman Hugh Williams who conducted their part of the
program at CRUCIBLE, the possibilities are endless for other specialized
munitions.<BR><BR>
<B>LC23-1</B><BR><BR>
Somewhere in between the big SAMOURAI and the little FN303 is Lacroix’s LC23-1, a
hand-held projector that is capable of firing a variety of specialized payloads as
dictated by the situation. This single shot palm pistol is, according to Hugh
Williams’ briefing, “especially appropriate in routine situations requiring the
control of individuals or the occupants of vehicles or buildings.”<BR><BR>
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