Nigeria will manufacture Polish-originated AK assault rifle derivatives.

Nigeria will produce the Beryl M762  assault rifle, a Polish-originated variant of the world-known Kalashnikov AK assault rifle, under license, according to the press department of the Fabryka Broni Lucznik-Radom company, a subsidiary of the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ).

The Beryl M762 is chambered for 7.62x39 cardridges (Picture source:Army Recognition)

On March 26, President of PGZ Jakub Skib and Director General of the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Major General Bamidele Ogunkale signed a letter of intent (LoI) aimed at the organization of the manufacturing of the Beryl M762  assault rifle in the African country.

The LoI envisages three stages of the manufacturing process under license, namely, basic assembling, manufacturing of separate parts, and, finally, full assembling of the abovementioned firearms in Nigeria. DICON did not specify its plans in terms of quantity of assault rifles to be produced in cooperation with the PGZ group.

The authorities of Nigeria have earmarked NGN 364 million (approximately USD 1 million) and NGN 390 million (approximately USD 1 million) to set up production lines for the Beryl M762 and Kalashnikov AK-type assault rifles, respectively.

In 2006, DICON presented the OBJ-006 assault rifle, a copy of the Kalashnikov AKM. It has almost the same specifications and is fitted with buttstock, handguard and pistol grip made of wood or polymer. The OBJ-006 lacks any Picatinny rails or other modern interfaces. This is noteworthy that DICON also produces its own copy of the FN FAL 7.62 mm rifle developed by the Belgian FN Herstal company.

The Beryl M762  is an export-oriented variant of Poland's 5.56 mm Beryl wz.96C rifle. Unlike the baseline model, the M762 is chambered for 7.62x39 (M43) cartridges. The assault rifle is fitted with Picatinny rails and can be fed by Kalashnikov AK/AKM steel or polymer magazines.