Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal — self identified as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN — is a firearm

Firearm

A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

s manufacturer located in Herstal, Belgium.

FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns U.S. Repeating Arms Company

U.S. Repeating Arms Company

The U.S. Repeating Arms Company. Inc. is the current business name of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, famous for making Winchester rifles....

 (Winchester

Winchester Repeating Arms Company

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...

) and Browning Arms Company

Browning Arms Company

Browning Arms Company is a maker of firearms, bows and fishing gear. Founded in Utah in 1927, it offers a wide variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, pistols, and rimfire firearms and sport bows, as well as fishing rods and reels....

. FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities: FN Manufacturing and FNH USA. FN Manufacturing, located in Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, is the manufacturing branch of FN Herstal in the United States, producing firearms such as the M249 and M240

M240

The M240, officially Machine Gun, 7.62mm, M240, is the US military designation for the FN MAG , a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns firing the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge.The M240 has been used by the United States Armed Forces since the mid-1980s...

 machine guns and M16 rifle

M16 rifle

The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...

, among others.