ARS MECHANICA

ARS MECHANICA traces the comprehensive history of the Herstal Group, renowned worldwide through its brands FN Herstal, Browning, and Winchester. Almost 130 years of technological innovation and unique know-how has allowed the company to develop, manufacture and commercialize leading quality products.

Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre (FN) was a pure product of Belgium in the nineteenth century. It could not have emerged at any other time or in any other place. The industrial strength of the country and of its Liège Region, combined with its centuries-old tradition of arms-making, successfully ensured Belgium’s military independence through this period.

ARS MECHANICA retraces the history of this landmark company, now called the Herstal Group, which has emerged as a global industrial force under the control of the Belgian government over the decades. Through this period, FN has endured successive crises and upturns, alongside devastating wars and periods of patient reconstruction.

Mechanical engineering is surely the top driver of its progress and resilience, and this clearly shows in the wide variety of FN’s products—arms, ammunition, bicycles, cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, aircraft engines and more—that have been produced by the Herstal Group over the years. In putting this know-how into practice, the company has adeptly adapted to various historical changes. By innovating, inventing and occasionally harnessing current patents to launch new products, FN has indelibly stamped its singular authority through its mechanical engineering genius.