Columbia Regional Business Report
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Staff Report 

FN Manufacturing has been awarded a $27.1 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide MK-19 grenade machine guns to the U.S. Army.

The work will be performed at FN’s manufacturing facility at 797 Old Clemson Road in northeast Richland County.

The estimated completion date for the contract, which was awarded by the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is Aug. 22, 2015.

The MK-19, also referred to as an automatic grenade launcher, is a crew-served weapon that fires 40 mm high-explosive, dual-purpose rounds. It has an effective firing rate of 60 rounds per minute and can hit targets up to 1.4 miles away. The weapon can be used against light-armored vehicles and infantry.

The weapon system — including gun, tripod, and traversing and elevation mechanism — weigh about 120 pounds. A container of 48 rounds weighs 64 pounds, according to Globalsecurity.org, an independent military information website.

The weapon can be mounted on vehicles such as tanks or carried over short distances by troops.

FN is part of the Herstal Group, which also includes FN Herstal in Lieges, Belgium; Browning Arms Co. in Morgan, Utah; and FNH USA in McLean, Va.