Spanish soldiers test the MSBS Grot rifle and the VIS 100 pistol of the Polish Army

The Spanish Army's deployments abroad are a constant opportunity to test the light weapons of our allies.

MSBS Grot, the Polish ambidextrous rifle that manages to rival the prestigious HK416
HK416, the excellent German rifle that could replace the G36E in the Spanish Army

Last Thursday, the Spanish Defense Staff (EMAD) published information on the Eagle Hannibal exercise, which is taking place in southern Poland, near the borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and which includes the participation of soldiers from the Canadian, Spanish, Italian and Polish armies. The Spanish Army has sent two platoons from its contingent in Latvia to this exercise.

The soldiers participating in this exercise have marched in the Tatra Mountains and the Beskids Mountains, in the mountainous area south of Poland, near Slovakia.

In addition, the EMAD has reported the following: "During the exercise, shooting exercises were carried out with the new Polish FB MSBS Grot rifle and the FB VIS 100 pistol, recently acquired by this same Army."

You can see here the photos released by EMAD about this exercise. In three of them we see Spanish soldiers with the MSBS Grot assault rifle, an excellent weapon about which I already told you about here last year.

The MSBS Grot is a modular rifle in 5.56x45mm NATO calibre. It was designed by the Polish company Fabryka Broni "Łucznik" Radom (FB) and the Military University of Technology (WAT) in Warsaw. Introduced in 2009, the Polish Army began receiving it in 2014. It is an ambidextrous rifle: it has rate-of-fire controls and magazine ejection buttons on both sides of the receiver, so it can be used by left-handed soldiers. In addition, the exit hole for empty shells can be changed by a simple modification.

It should be noted that this rifle has already been tested in combat and with very positive feedback. Poland delivered 10,000 MSBS Grot rifles to Ukraine. This Polish rifle has become a highly appreciated weapon for Ukrainian soldiers, who are particularly pleased with its resistance to dirt, thanks to the gas regulator that allows the rifle to be adapted to the conditions of each environment.

In turn, the FB VIS 100 pistol is a semi-automatic short weapon in 9×19 mm Parabellum caliber. Initially called the PR-15 Ragun, it weighs 695 grams without a magazine (slightly lighter than the H&K USP used by the Spanish Army, which weighs 748 grams). Like the USP, the VIS 100 has a 15-round magazine and its reloading system is short recoil. The first contract for the acquisition of the VIS 100 for the Polish Army was signed in December 2018, for a batch of 20,000 pistols, which was expanded in 2019 with a second batch of 19,900.