# Rwanda Special Operations Forces fields Polish GROT assault rifles

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2024/08/rwanda-special-operations-forces-fields-polish-grot-assault-rifles/
- Published: 2024-08-05T08:27:59+01:00
- Author: Patrick Kenyette

The Rwanda Special Operations Forces received Polish GROT assault rifles.

A photo of a soldier of the Rwandan Special Operations Forces with an assault rifle
was published on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by RDF Gallery.

The 7.62×39 mm assault rifle, as evidenced by the distinctive magazine, with a 40
mm grenade launcher.

ADVERTISEMENT

![FB "Łucznik" Radom Grot modular assault rifle](https://www.military.africa/wp-
content/uploads/2022/05/msbs-05-1024x576.jpg)

The GROT modular firearms system with quick-change barrel is based on a common upper
receiver for a conventional (with folding, telescopic stock) or bullpup design.

![Rwandan special forces soldier with GROT assault rifle](https://www.military.africa/
wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ruandijskyj-spetspryznachenets-z-avtomatom-GROT-1-1-1024x629.
jpg)

A Rwandan special force operator with the GROT assault rifle.

In May 19, 2022, Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa: PGZ) [announced](https://www.military.africa/2022/05/east-african-military-buys-polish-fabryka-broni-7-62x39-mm-grot-rifles/)
in a press release that an undisclosed East African military has purchased a large
batch of the Grot rifles chambered in 7.62×39 mm.

The Grot assault rifles are manufactured by PGZ subsidiary Fabryka Broni (FB) ‘Łucznik’
Radom, and will be delivered with under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs) and daylight
optical sights manufactured by another PGZ subsidiary, Przemysłowe Centrum Optyki(
PCO).

ADVERTISEMENT

Last month, the Polish small arms manufacturer Łucznik presented a new version of
the Grot A3 assault rifle, which has received a number of improvements based on 
the experience of operation and the war in Ukraine.

![Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” grot assault rifle](https://www.military.africa/wp-content/
uploads/2022/05/Fabryka-Broni-grot-modular-assault-rifle.webp)

The MSBS Grot modular assault rifle is fully designed and manufactured in Poland.
Here a serviceman can be seen with the firearm during a training.

During the GROTowisko-24 conference, the Polish company Łucznik presented the updated
MSBS-5.56 Grot, which is the basic version and in variations can have a caliber 
of 7.62×39 mm. This is the version of the assault rifle ordered by Rwanda for its
special forces.

According to the slides shown at the presentation, the new rifle is 300 grams lighter
than the A2 variant and now weighs 3.4 kilograms with a 16-inch (406-mm) barrel.

This is not the first update of the assault rifle, and the first production rifles
had [various problems](https://mil.in.ua/uk/news/u-polshhi-rozgortayetsya-skandal-z-avtomatamy-grot/)
during operation in the Polish army. Ukrainian soldiers, including the Special Forces,
have been receiving GROT C16 FB-M1 assault rifles, and based on their feedback, 
the Grot A3 version was updated.

ADVERTISEMENT

FB “Łucznik” Radom had earlier exported its firearms to militaries in Africa. In
2014, the Nigerian Army [ordered 1,000 Beryl assault rifles ](https://www.military.africa/2018/03/nigerias-dicon-to-manufacture-beryl-m762-assault-rifles)
in 2014 under a $1 million contract.

Nigerian Army personnel underwent training in Radom, Poland, according to Tomasz
Nita, chief executive of [ Fabryka Broni Lucznik](https://www.military.africa/2022/05/east-african-military-buys-polish-fabryka-broni-7-62x39-mm-grot-rifles/#),
who added that 2014’s sale was the first export order for the type.

### _Related_