PGZ was represented by Jakub Skiba (President of the Management Board) and Pawel Pelc and Michal Kuczmierowski (Members of the Board). DICON representation included General Bamidele Ogunkale (the CEO) and Kike Abiodun Bello (the Director of the Law Department). The letter of intent was signed in the presence of Polish Ministry of National Defence Secretary of State – Sebastian Chwalek.
Beryl M762 is an equivalent of wz. 96C assault rifle, introduced into Polish Army in 2009. Polish weapons use the 5,56×45 ammunition while the export variant shots the 7,62×39 round and is compatible with AK/AKM magazines.
Letter of Intention signature ceremony between Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa and Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria. The letter concerns manufacturing of M762 rifles in Nigeria
Beryl M762
For years, Fabryka Broni was asked to develop a variant of Beryl rifle for the popular 7,62×39 mm Russian ammunition. This round is still widely used in many African and Asian countries and it became popular during and after the cold war when tens of thousands of AK/AKM weapons were delivered throughout the world. The first attempt at 7,62 mm Beryl was presented in 2009 in London during the DSEi show. The modified version of AKS with milled upper receiver was named Aktyn and showed at the trade show. The weapon, similar to wz. 96C, had an enlarged magazine release, a protrusion on the fire selector and an elongated upper receiver. The welded element allowed for universal rail mounting. Beryl for 7,62×39 mm ammunition was developed in 2013 and was kind of a back to the past project. The original weapon for 5,56×45 mm ammunition was created by a redesign of wz. 88 for 5,45×39 mm ammunition which was, in fact, a serious modification of 7,62×39 mm AKM. The M762 rifle was shown in 2013 to various officials visiting the MSPO and wasn’t on public display. The official debut took place at MSPO 2014, after signing of the first contract with Nigeria. From the mechanical and usability point of view, the M762 Beryl for 7,62×39 mm ammunition is an equivalent of wz. 96C rifle for 5,56 mm ammo used by the Polish army. The weapon has a 419-mm barrel, a bit longer than 415-mm in the AK/AKM and 38 mm shorter than 457-mm barrel Beryl M762 is an equivalent of wz. 96C model and differs by the 7,62×39 mm ammunition used in wz. 96. Initially, the barrel was supposed to measure 415 mm, just like in AK but the decision was made to extend it to accommodate exchangeability of elements used with wz. 96. The elements included 147-mm long 6H4 bayonet and underslung grenade launchers. M762 Beryl was made compatible with both older wz. 74 Pallad and GP40 made by Zaklady Mechaniczne Tarnow and new GPBO-40 made by Zaklady Metalowe Dezamet. Main visual difference between the 5,56 mm and 7, 62 mm Beryls is the magazine. M762 uses the standard AK/AKM magazine and the Nigeria export versions are send with 4 of 30-round steel magazines. Fabryka Broni developed a transparent, polymer magazine for M762, similar to the one used in wz. 96 but Nigerians required the standard, steel version. Beryl M762 is equipped in exactly the same way as wz. 96C. It has an adjustable stock, universal accessory rails on handguard and gas pipe cover, ergonomic pistol grip, enlarged controls and a front grip. It is possible to mount an optoelectronic sight above the upper receiver. It is also equipped with a 3-position fire selector (single fire, 3 round burst, auto) on the left side. Even the muzzle device is the same as in wz. 96C 5,56 mm rifle. It also accepts a threaded insert for firing blanks. During the development process, two variants of Beryl M762 were made. First had a safety connected with the fire selector, similarly to the solution used in the original Kalashnikov. The second variant had separate manipulators, just as in wz. 96. Safety lever was located on the right and fire selector on the left of the upper receiver. The latter version was ordered by Nigerian armed forces and it can fire not only in single or auto mode but also has a3-round burst option.
Beryl M762 is an equivalent of wz. 96C model and differs by the 7,62×39 mm ammunition
AKS-based Aktyn rifle was the first attempt of Fabryka Broni at getting back to manufacturing weapons for 7,62×39 mm round. The weapon was showcased during the 2009 DSEi show in London
First deliveries of 1000 Beryl M762 rifles took place in Februar y 2015 and the weapons were sent to elite units of Nigerian armed forces
Various sources confirm than Nigerians like the Polish weapon. This resulted in increased orders for other branches of armed forces and the current plans for license production by DICON
Beryl M762 was demonstrated in 2013 during the MSPO but never showed to the general public. This happened a year later after the contract with Nigerians was signed
Nigerian manufacturing
DICON
Belgian license
In 1972 the factory went bankrupt for the first time and the German managing director was forced to leave the country, accused of mismanagement. The factory was saved by the Nigerian army, which 5 years later decided to unify their firearms, and Belgian weapons were chosen for this process. Between 1977 and 1978, DICON purchased a license for FN-FAL rifles from FNHerstal. These firearms were called NR1 (Nigerian Rifle Model 1) and fired 7,62-mm rounds. Other licenses procured covered manufacture of 9-mm Browning HP pistols (NP1, Nigerian Pistol Model 1) and 7,62-mm FN MAG58 machine guns (GPMG, General Purpose Machine Gun). Since the 1980’s, Kaduna-located factory was developed and adapted to mass production needs by Belgians. In 1983 weapons were assembled from parts delivered from Belgium. Four years later factory achieved full production capabilities and in 1988 decision was made to stop importing any parts from abroad. Since then, all the elements were made locally. The NR1 assault rifle was officially introduced into the armed forces in 1989.
In 1990, production capabilities were estimated at 15000 NR1 rifles, 10000 NP1 pistols, and 1000 MAG58 machine guns. At the same time, Kaduna factory also produced 12 DICON SG1-86 shotguns.
In 1977‒1978 DICON purchased from FN Herstal a license to manufacture the FN FAL 7,62-mm rifles. These weapons were named NR1 (Nigerian Rifle Model 1) in Nigeria and were officially introduced into service in 1989
Contemporary times
Political unrest, economic problems and international sanctions from 1990, were ruining the factory. This resulted in a massive discharge of workforce in 2000. After the domestic situation stabilized, the new democratic government started financing the factory in 2004. There were some small orders to fulfill and overdue salaries were paid out to encourage people to come back to work. At the same time, work started on the local Kalashnikov clone. Prototypes were built in February 2006 and in October 2006 were presented, by the current DICON CEO Nnameka Charles Maduegbunam, to the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo. To commemorate the President, the 7,62-mm rifle was named OBJ-006. Trials were finished in November 2006. In the meantime, Kaduna factory adaptation to OBJ-006 manufacturing was ongoing. The firearm is visible on the DICON website but we are unsure if the actual manufacturing has ever started. Besides the new rifle, the D&D department developed a local model of RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher (named RPG) and mortars in 60 and 81 mm caliber. The factory also produced tripods for machine guns and ceremonial swords. For the civilian market, DICON manufactures single barrel shotguns and windmills. Ammunition factory in Kachia is also currently undergoing development. In 2017, Nigerians build a primer production line. The primers are for 7,62×39 mm ammunition as it was chosen as standard in Nigerian armed forces.
30-round polymer magazine, same as used with wz. 96C was developed for the Beryl M762. Nigerians, however, requested the standard steel magazines to be delivered with the rifles
Beryl’s M762 barrel is 419 mm, a bit shorter than 457 mm used in wz. 96C rifle but longer than 415 mm barrel of the AK/AKM weapons. This change resulted in compatibility with bayonet and underslung grenade launchers
M762 deliveries
The signing of the letter of intent is a direct result of the cooperation between Fabryka Broni and Nigerian armed forces. The cooperation started a few years back and, since then, Fabryka Broni provided Nigerians with over 2000 of rifles. The first contract, signed in 2014, was valued at PLN3,3 million (EUR782,813) and resulted in the delivery of 1000 Beryl M762 rifles in 2015. Weapons were handed over to 72. Mobile Strike Force – an elite unit which operates in the north of Nigeria.
Next contract was signed in 2015 and concerned delivery of 500 M762 and 10 Mini-Beryl M556 rifles. The M556 is the export version of wz. 96C used by Polish Army. A small batch of these was to be used by Nigerians for testing and their armed forces were also interested in ordering a shortened version of Beryl M762 from Fabryka Broni.
In June 2017, Beryl M762 were delivered to another branch of Nigeria’s armed forces. Five hundred were ordered by the NAR (Nigerian Air Force). Negotiations for another delivery of Polish weapons for Nigerian Air Force are currently in progress (Beryl M762 rifles for Nigeria, 2017-04-12).
First training in Beryl use for Nigerian soldiers. Lucznik representatives also took part in these activities
Nigerian Army commando armed with the Beryl M762 rifle. Note the high capacity drum magazine manufactured by Chinese or South Korean company
M762 rifles being presented to the President of Nigeria during the visit to Nigerian Air Force base in June 2017. Air Force was the next user, after land forces and military school, of the Polish weapon
In 2016, Nigeria budget proposal included procurement of 500 Beryl M762 assault rifles and 500 of Beryl RTT training replicas for the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna. The amounts budgeted were as follows: NG184 million (EUR415,000) for the assault rifles and NGN177 million (EUR396,000) for the training replicas. So, the unit price would be NGN369,600 (EUR829) for the live ammunition version and NGN353,100 (EUR792) for the training model.
As MILMAG found out, the Nigeria Defence Academy ordered the first batch of 300 M762 Beryl’s and 500 RTT Beryl’s. Weapons were sent to Nigeria between March and April 2018. More deliveries for the same receiver are planned.
This article was originally published on MILMAG 03-04/2018
