Right Arm of the Free World: FN FALs in Ukraine

The FN FAL is one of the iconic infantry weapons of the Cold War. Since Autumn last year we have seen several variant appear in use in Ukraine. In this video we take a look some of the examples seen and get some direct insight from some of the Ukrainian personnel who have used them in the field.

Dmytro:
IG: mrachnik

Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here -

Where to find TAB:

[Tadicuslegion]

FAL: *looks at M14* Well old man, looks like our time has finally come.
M14: Oorah.

[lefunnyN]

FAL finally fights its cold war battle

[iffracem]

21 years in the Australian Army, and the L1A1 "SLR" was my personal weapon for nearly that whole time (except the last few years when the Steyr AUG took over)
Heavy, kicked like a mule, but would never let you, or your mates down.

[josecarlosamador]

As an ex Brazilian Army infrantryman, this weapon is nostalgic to me. Kicks like a mule, but it's accurate, reliable, simple.

[thejoseonone]

Imagine the logistical nightmare of using all these firearms, their magazines and ammo. I'm sure the logistics chief is going crazy 😵‍💫

[nicolasnunezindart]

Argentinian Army reservist here, we still have the FAL as our standard issue weapon, a perfect gun, but quite outdated (here the Army is replacing it with local made lighter and shorter modernised FALs), I'm very happy to see it still keeping up with modern warfare!

[Flyingcircustailwheel]

The FAL definitely wins the beauty contest imo.

[JaredKaiser]

FAL's destiny is finally being fulfilled

[jakubmotlik]

I am looking forward to an episode dedicated to BREN 2, since its one of the most commonly seen 5, 56 rifles in Ukranian use.

[Berre]

Greetings from Belgium, proud manufacturers of the FN FAL. It was my personal weapon when I did my service in the Belgian Infantry as an officer in 1981-82. I loved this rifle. Very accurate, very easy to clean, very reliable.

[marcusott]

I served in the Austrian Army just as my unit was transitioning from the FN-FAL (Stg58) to the Steyr AUG (Stg77).
Loved shooting the FAL, also as I'm very tall I never found it that extremely unwieldy, as I'm already unwieldy myself. 😅

[JeezUriah]

Yeah, his cartridge jam problem was solved by opening up the gas and making it "over gassed" (it's not really over gassed, it's a normal function of the gas regulator) because it's a short stroke piston rod and not like the Kalashnikov rifle, it's a touch more sensitive to variations in ammo and the action can be as well to dirt or wet & freezing conditions, must clean the action and keep it well cleaned & free of any fowling or residue from firing. 🇨🇦

[alanburke]

I was issued an FN FAL as a 17 year old reservist. It was a horrible weapon for de-bussing or concealed firing given its length. But great stopping power and range in the right hands. Regular units had been issued Steyr Augs but many NCOs preferred FN especially if they had trained initially on Mk. 2 Lee Enfields in reserve units. A shooter's gun good to 500m.

[petesheppard]

Since you bring up Cold War battle rifles, it is a bit surprising that the HKs haven't shown up in considerable numbers.

[jimdr]

Years ago i was speaking with a Canadian Veteran who served as a Peace Keeper at the height of the conflict in Cyprus. Stuck between the Greeks and Turks with their 9 mm pop guns. The Canadian contingent had a coffee can each put a dollar in. The reason for the tin can full of dollar bills, was to pay the $10 fine a Trooper was issued if he discharged his weapon. And discharge that single round then did. When the Canadians grew tired of the Turkey and Greek stupidity of having hot lead fly over their post, the crackle of a single round of the 7.62 NATO would make the battlefield go silent. The Greeks and Turks realized they just pissed off the Canadians and stopped...

[davidbell]

Did you really think FALs would miss a fight?

[davidpalmer]

I loved the FAL (SLR downunder) Was issued to me in basic when we were transitioning to the new M16. I got to see first hand what the 7.62 V 5.56 did to ballistic gel. Kept my SLR for the rest of my career. Had very few gas jams as I would field strip & clean it before I would look after myself. Thank you for reminding me.

[eddiebanido]

Fal é um ícone do Brasil! E tem uma precisão absurda nas mãos certas, e uma luneta, ela vira uma arma incrível!

[wimmeraparanormal]

Belgium supplied in 2022, a total of 10, 000 FAL's of various types along with 5, 000 FNC's and 1, 000 FN2000's and SCAR's. A further 3700 FNC's or SCAR's are about to be delivered in March. Several hundred MAG GPMG's and Minimi's and over a 1, 000 FN manufactured M2 HMG's were also delivered last year. I believe all of these delivered in the first tranche were FN stockpiled weapons ready for overseas sale. The Belgian Govt bought them all and sent to Ukraine instead.

[kozakotaku]

3:12 they say:
- Look what kind of thing they give to my friend, what is it name?
- I don't remember what it's called, but this thing is good
-7.62 caliber, we tried to shoot, and its powerful.
Most Ukrainians did not even see this weapon before the war(Because the AK-47 with its 7.62×39mm prevails in our region), but this powerful gun and caliber has already earned respect among some military groups, usually among the Territorial Defense Forces who are armed with 5.45 × 39 or even smaller calibers, and have problems with penetrating Russian body armor.
Of course, this is a new foreign caliber for us, аnd this leads to logistical problems... But more even such old ones weapons, more armed defenders of Ukraine, and more chances that one day we will free Ukraine from the invaders and end this war.