The FN P90 is a Belgian personal defence weapon manufactured by FN Herstal in the late 1980s.
An updated version of the P90 entered production in 1993, which was updated to fire the more powerful SS190 rounds.
Development[]
The P90 started development in the 1980s when NATO put forth the request for a replacement of the 9x19mm Parabellum with a light armour-piercing cartridge, along with a compact defence weapon to fire it.
Prototypes for the P90 were constructed and were chambered for the SS90 23-grain plastic core projectile, with the production model, at least for the first three years, using the same round. In 1993 it was replaced with the SS190 31-grain steel core projectile.
In 2002 through 2003, NATO trialled both the P90 and MP7 in their respective new cartridges for the new standardization. The FN 5.7 cartridge was considered superior, but NATO nations were unwilling to support the standardization of this type of round. The 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge is thus still in use by NATO.
Variants[]
FN P90
Standard production model.
FN P90 LV/IR
Version with laser pointer.
FN P90 T
Version with rail.
FN P90 TR
Version with tri-rail.
FN PS90
Semi-automatic version with long barrel.
FN PS90 SBR
Semi-automatic version with a short barrel.
FN PS90 TR
Semi-automatic version with long barrel and tri-rail.