Polish army to receive 70 000 additional Grot assault rifles.

Polish Defense ministry has signed a contract modification with Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” – Radom for the delivery of another batch of MSBS Grot assault rifles for the Polish Army. Close to 70,000 additional rifles will be delivered by the end of 2026 under the contract, with more to be ordered.
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Polish-made MSBS Grot assault rifle displayed at MSPO 2020 defense exhibition in Poland (Picture source: Army Recognition)

During MSPO 2017, the Polish firearms manufacturer FB "Łucznik" Radom signed a contract with the Polish Ministry of Defense for the delivery of 53,000 Grot assault rifles in 5.56mm caliber to the territorial defense forces of Poland. The first Grot rifles from the Polish armory Lucznik in Radom were first taken over in 2017 by the territorial defense troops (WOT), representing the Polish equivalent of active army reserves, and in 2019 by army units.

In January 2023, Polish Deputy Prime minister Mariusz Błaszczak said: “Our needs are great. We maintain our goal, i.e. a minimum of 300,000 soldiers of the Polish Army, so we can talk about such a number in the context of orders for carbines. Of course, this is not all, because we also need to have prepared carbines that will be the equipment of reservists. At least 300,000 soldiers of the Polish Army plus reservists – this is the number discussed when it comes to orders for GROT carbines”.

The latest contract amendment is worth some $188 million and is in addition to 28,000 rifles already ordered between 2022 and 2022. In total, Poland plans to spend up to $250 million on rifle procurement.

Some of the weapons – according to the head of the PGZ arms concern, Sebastian Chwalek, “a large amount” – were given by the Polish government to Ukraine as a gift.

The FB MSBS Grot is an assault rifle designed and manufactured by the Polish firearms company FB "Łucznik" Radom. The Grot name has been added to the MSBS after the official adoption of the rifle by the Polish Armed Forces. In September 2017 during the MSPO defense exhibition in Poland, FB "Łucznik" Radom signed a contract with the Polish Ministry of Defense for the delivery of 53,000 Grot assault rifles in standard configuration 5.56mm caliber to the territorial defense forces of Poland.

There are two basic variants developed by FB that are based on a common upper receiver including a conventional assault rifle and a bullpup variant. With their variety of modules, both variants can be easily transformed into an assault rifle, carbine, designated marksman rifle or light support weapon. The Grot rifle is an individual selective-fire, gas-operated weapon available in 5.56 and 7.62mm calibers. It is fully designed and manufactured in Poland. The modular small arms system with a quick-change barrel is based on a common upper receiver for a conventional folding stock or bullpup design. The MSBS Grot is totally ambidextrous. All controls are doubled, or placed as to allow actuating with either hand (Radon-B bolt catch). Both configurations are designed to be modular and can be easily configured into an assault rifle, carbine, designated marksman rifle, or squad automatic weapon.

MSBS Grot assault rifle (Picture source: Polish MoD)