The portraits of Philippe and Mathilde observe the visitor from the entrance to the reception room. Like the royal couple, the FN Herstal company is an institution in Belgium. The “FN” (for national factory), as everyone calls it here, is the oldest arms manufacturer in the country, founded in 1889 in the city of Herstal, about twenty kilometers north-east of Liège. The site, which still occupies 13 hectares in the heart of the city, is a state in the State: it employs more than 1,400 employees and 3,000 in the world, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.
In financial agony in the 1990s, before being taken 100 % by the Walloon Region in 1997, the group, renamed FN Browning since 2024, achieved a turnover of 934 million euros in 2024, including 556 million for its only “Defense and Security” department. He appears in the world top 3 manufacturers of light weapons, with the Italian Beretta and the German Heckler & Koch, and intends to take advantage of the military “rearmament” decided by Europe to deal with the continuation of the war in Ukraine and the risk of disengagement from the United States in the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO).
Business is running and the FN Herstal subsidiary has recorded almost 20 % growth each year since 2022. “The strengthening of the European pillar of NATO offers us important opportunities”recognizes Julien Compère, the CEO of FN Browning. The objectives are raised for 2025: double the production of machine guns and quadruple that of ammunition by the end of the year, without specifying figures for reasons of confidentiality.
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Source: Lemonde