The FN EVOLYS is a

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...

FN Herstal , trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale, or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium, and former vehicle manufacturer. It was the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe . FN ...

in 2021, chambered for

5.56×45mm NATO The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, commonly pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, ...

and

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...

. The EVOLYS was designed to be lighter and more ergonomic than other machine guns, such as the

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for ; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm or 7.62mm light machine gun, also classified as a squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. Introduced in the late 1970s, it is in service in more than ...

History

On 22 April 2021, FN Herstal created a

teaser trailer A teaser trailer, also shortened to teaser, is a short trailer (promotion), trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release film or television show advertisement. Sh ...

, showcasing a new machine gun with the title "A New Chapter Begins". On 6 May 2021 FN Herstal released a 20-minute

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

, discussing the new design, including its technical aspects, and revealing its name: the EVOLYS. In September 2021, the EVOLYS was first displayed to the public at the Defence and Security Equipment International trade show in London, and it began to enter pre-production the same month.

Design

The EVOLYS was designed from the ground up for use in

urban warfare Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...

, which has become more common, and which holds specific requirements. Rather than taking the

base of fire In military terminology, a base of fire is a supporting force that provides overwatch and covering fire to other advancing units while they are executing fire and movement tactics. A base of fire can be a platoon during company fire and movement, ...

from a

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

, the EVOLYS was designed to improve the amount of firepower that could be provided by a single soldier. It is

select fire Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Select (album), ''Select'' (album), a 1982 album by Kim Wilde * Select (magazine), ''Select'' (magazine), a 1990–2001 British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a 1996–2001 interac ...

, with the option between semi-automatic and

fully automatic An automatic firearm or fully automatic firearm (to avoid confusion with semi-automatic firearms) is a self-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firear ...

fire modes. The EVOLYS uses a lateral feed mechanism with the belt at a 45° angle, and it is fully ambidextrous, with all its controls accessible on both its sides, and it can be loaded with one hand. The firing operation is unusual as it uses an open bolt, firing with a separate hammer upside down inside the upper receiver. This prevents accidents and

runaways Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

as even if the bolt moves forward, it won't fire unless the hammer is released by a trigger pull. A single accessory rail mounted on the top of the receiver allows for the mounting of various optics, allowing for better target acquisition. Previous machine gun designs had to use multiple rails, which were not integral to the receiver, making the attachment and usage of optics more difficult. Due to the increased use of

suppressors A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a gun barrel#Muzzle, muzzle device that suppresses the muzzle blast, blast created when a gun (firearm or airgun) is discharged, thereby reducing the sound inten ...

, the EVOLYS was designed to be capable of having a suppressor permanently fitted without it affecting the weapon's performance. The EVOLYS was constructed using

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

and

polymers A polymer () is a substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, b ...

, which help to reduce its weight. At , the EVOLYS is up to 30% lighter than competing machine guns such as the

. The EVOLYS is chambered for 5.56×45mm and 7.62×51mm, with

6.5mm Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor designated as 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, and as 6,5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Hornady senior ballistics scientist Dave Emary in partnership with D ...

and .260 Remington variants in development for potential use by special forces.

Users

* :

Belgian Armed Forces The Belgian Armed Forces (; , ) are the combined national military forces of Belgium. The Monarchy of Belgium, King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium Belgian Rev ...

: 20 EVOLYS bought for evaluation purposes. * :

French Special Forces The Commandement des Opérations Spéciales (, "Special Operations Command") or COS is a joint staff charged with overseeing the various special forces of the French Army, Navy and Air and Space Force, bringing them all under a single operationa ...

* :

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

for test purposes * :

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

for test purposes in

Next Generation Squad Weapon Program The Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program is a United States Armed Forces, United States military program created in 2017 by the United States Army, U.S. Army to replace the 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56mm M4 carbine, the M249 SAW light machine gun ...

References

{{FN Herstal firearms FN Herstal firearms Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2021 Machine guns of Belgium 5.56×45mm NATO machine guns 7.62×51mm NATO machine guns

History

Design

Users

See also

References