In connection with the publication of an article by editors Edyta Żemła and Marcin Wyrwał titled “Szokujący raport o karabinku Grot. Jest tak zły, że zagraża żołnierzom” (“A shocking report on the Grot assault rifle. It is so bad as to pose a danger to soldiers”) on the Onet.pl website, which concerns the MSBS Grot assault rifle manufactured by Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” – Radom sp. z o.o., we would like to inform you that the article is dishonest and misleading to the public.

Fabryka Broni is disappointed in the fact that the report’s authors failed to uphold journalistic integrity and did not present its statement on the matter, even though it was delivered to Ms Żemła on 14 January 2021. Fabryka Broni did respond to Ms Żemła’s questions. Regardless, our responses concerning the modifications introduced in the A1 and A2 version of MSBS GROT were not included in the article concerning it. This raises serious doubts about objectivity, as well as the intentions behind publishing materials prepared by a journalist from another editorial office.

The article is based almost exclusively on anonymous statements and archival photographs of MSBS GROT’s first production batches. The only named person quoted in the article is Paweł Moszner, a journalist, whose study is referred to as a “report” in the article, even though it is by no means an official document. Other members of the team of authors also remain anonymous and its full composition is unknown. Additionally, the editorial office employing Mr Moszner decided not to publish this material, despite publishing an announcement that it would do so. Therefore, assessing a firearm that has undergone a comprehensive certification process before its adoption into service based on an evaluation presented by a journalist can hardly be deemed appropriate.

All relevant legal and technical requirements were fulfilled before the delivery of the first batch of the MSBS rifles to the Territorial Defence Forces (WOT) in December 2017, as evidenced by the Ruling of the Chief of the Armament Inspectorate (IU) and the Defence and Security (OiB) mode II test certification. This certainly does not mean that the rifle’s design components can no longer be improved – conversely, they are constantly being improved. Unfortunately, the published articles fail to mention that Fabryka Broni continues to work with WOT to further improve MSBS’ design, which has already resulted in the creation of its current iteration marked A2. The vast majority of flaws and defects described in these articles has already been eliminated and recalling them ad nauseam has nothing to do with presenting the truth and effectively misleads the public.

Regardless, it must be emphasized that Fabryka Broni created MSBS specifically based on the requirements submitted by the Ordering Party and works with the latter to remove any defects discovered. Considering that it is a new design, some of its elements may require changes and improvements – similar processes can be seen all over the world.

Between 2017 and 2020, Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” – Radom sp. z o.o. delivered 43,700 MSBS GROT assault rifles to the Polish Armed Forces. Before going into production, MSBS GROT underwent all the required qualification trials, which were supervised by a specially appointed state commission. The trials were very thorough and included both safety and durability testing. They were successful and confirmed that MSBS GROT’s actual parameters match those declared by Fabryka Broni. Fabryka Broni maintains contact with all buyers who have purchased MSBS rifles and addresses all complaints submitted on an ongoing basis.

SBS GROT’s design is being constantly improved; a user comment and complaint analysis team, including representatives of the Territorial Defence Forces Command, Military University of Technology, Central Logistics Body and Fabryka Broni, was established for this purpose. The team works on design changes to be introduced in MSBS based on the feedback received from its users. The team’s work has resulted in the creation of MSBS GROT A1, as well as the subsequent MSBS GROT A2 featuring the following improvements: a lengthened hand-guard that covers the gas regulator, a new firing pin with greatly improved durability, as well as dry-fire capability for training purposes. Most faults or defects presented in the article were incidental – with each of them typically affecting only a single rifle – as was the case with the broken cam plugs, which was a purely incidental failure that may have been caused by a hidden material defect. Please note that there is no such thing as zero-fault production. Neither the few cracked magazines – out of nearly 400,000 pieces delivered – nor the several cracked butt-stocks among more than 40,000 guns produced are a serious issue for either the users or Fabryka Broni to resolve.

The work on further improvements to the MSBS GROT assault rifle is still ongoing and its subsequent iterations featuring multiple improvements respond to the needs and expectations of its primary users – the Polish Army soldiers.

The Management Board of Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” – Radom LLC