FN P90

The FN P90 is a selective fire personal defense weapon (PDW) designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The P90 was developed and initially marketed as a personal defense weapon, but it could also be considered a submachine gun or compact assault rifle. Featuring a compact bullpup design with an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls, the P90 is an unconventional weapon with a futuristic appearance. Its design incorporates several innovations such as a unique top-mounted magazine and FN's small caliber, high velocity 5.7×28mm ammunition.

C

 * [...] The image superimposed on Ricci's field of view by his visor display showed a pair of guards in hooded parkas, goggles, and wool scarves taking relaxed strides along their patrol of the building's north side. Their shoulder-slung FN P90 assault weapons fired the same ammunition as his FN Five-seveN pistol: small rounds, big punch. [...]
 * Tom Clancy, Jerome Preisler, and Martin H. Greenberg; Bio-Strike (2000), p. 405

D

 * Besides the ammunition it fires, the P90 has a number of very unusual and unique features that make it stand out in the field of firearms. The bullpup layout of the weapon makes the P90 the most compact fixed-stock submachine gun made... The physical layout of the P90 is very unusual the first time an operator sees it. The grips underneath the weapon are oddly curved with elongated holes above them to allow the fingers to wrap over the grip. Once the weapon is picked up, the style of holding the weapon dictated by the layout of the grips becomes automatic.
 * Kevin Dockery, Future Weapons (2007), New York: Berkley Trade

H

 * Edward had replaced his own Heckler & Koch MP5 with the new FN P90. It was very science fiction looking, but he swore once I fired it, I'd trade in my MP5. He'd said the same thing about the mini-Uzi that had been the gun that the MP5 had replaced for me, so I didn't argue. Edward knew more about guns than I ever would.
 * Laurell K. Hamilton, Skin Trade (2009), chapter 27

J
Rich: What are we talking? Close range, long distance? Massimo: [shrugs] 5 or 10 yards. Rich: Bring that PS90. [henchman brings the gun to Rich] Rich: P90 carbine, uses 5.7-millimeters. Rich: [pulls cocking handle] Designed to penetrate Kevlar helmets, vests, and CRISAT protection. [fires at a Kevlar vest mounted on an adjacent wall] [bullet impact creates a large hole in the vest] Rich: [laughs] Extremely low recoil, virtually no muzzle climb, resulting in every shot on target. [destroys the vest with several more shots] Rich: [waving gun] It's the shit right here.
 * Massimo: What do you got that goes through a vest?
 * Michael Matthias as Massimo and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Rich Taylor, in Gun (2010), written by Curtis Jackson, Chatsworth, California: Image Entertainment

M

 * "Get your boys ready. However this turns out, there'll be trouble—and they'll need more than tear gas and pepperballs to deal with it." "I see," Assad said, unhappy. A nod to the ASPS, and the soldiers opened more cases, taking out compact FN P90 submachine guns. "Another contingency," he told Nina and Macy. "I really hope we don't have to use them, Mr. Chase."
 * Andy McDermott, The Pyramid of Doom (2009), pp. 428-429

P

 * Two guards armed with Fabrique Nationale Herstal P-90 submachine guns stood at the entrance beyond the helipad, their presence negating any possibility of unauthorized access. Bolan hadn't expected to waltz through the laboratory's front door, but he wanted to view it nevertheless. He took the opportunity to examine his opponents' hardware. In addition to their submachine guns, the sentries wore shoulder holsters carrying FN Five-seveNs. Weighing a mere 1.6 pounds, the Belgium-made pistol used the same 5.7 mm ammunition as the P-90, fed from a clip holding 20 rounds. Although the lightweight handguns lacked the punch that a 9 mm Glock or a Smith & Wesson .45 might deliver, its bullets were available in a version with steel-hardened tips that penetrated Kevlar, making them the ideal choice when anticipating an assault by law-enforcement personnel.
 * Don Pendleton, Black Death Reprise (2008), p. 17


 * A six-man goon squad charged up one of the sweeping staircases to the VIP area. They weren't Turkish muscle. They were in suits and brandishing the FN Personal Defensive Weapons so prized by the Mexican cartels. Their weapons had laser sights, and the green beams played over the milling, screaming throng searching for their target. Bolan gave each of the two men leading the charge a double tap to the chest to no apparent effect. The men were armored. Bolan's pistol racked open on empty, and he threw himself flat as the enemy returned fire. Their weapons snarled on full-auto and scythed through bystanders as they sought Bolan.
 * Don Pendleton, Devil's Mark (2010), chapter 23


 * "Load everything you can lay your hands on," Bolan instructed. He helped himself to a black FN P90. There were several of them in one of the bags. The SMG featured a clear plastic magazine that was mounted on top of the weapon, in parallel formation. The clear magazine allowed the user to make a quick visual check on how many of the fifty 5.7 mm rounds were left. A manual selecter allowed semi- or full-auto fire, depending on the extent of trigger pull. Bolan helped himself to a number of extra magazines. "Poliokof likes to give his boys nice weapons," Kowalski said, helping herself to one of the P90s. "Money's no object, I guess. Who wants to bet that he got them from Cameron?"
 * Don Pendleton, Deadly Command (2011), p. 182-183


 * The Executioner moved up, well within the two-hundred-yard effective range of the P90. He raised the weapon and fired a short burst that hit the first of the Russians who broke through the gap. The 5.7 mm slugs jerked him halfway around, his suddenly bleeding body jamming the gap, so his partners were forced to physically drag him clear. Bolan had kept moving forward. He could see the other two men attempting to move their fallen buddy. The soldier angled the P90 and let go with a concentrated burst on full-auto, raking the gap and hitting home on the two men. Their screams almost blocked out the sound of the P90's chatter.
 * Don Pendleton, Deadly Command (2011), p. 184

R

 * The Uzis might have fired at 600 rounds per minute. But the P-90, made by the FN Herstal company in Belgium, fired at an astonishing 900 rounds per minute. Indeed, with its rounded hand guard, internal blowback system, and incredible hundred-round magazine mounted above the barrel, it looked like something out of a science fiction movie.
 * Matthew Reilly, Area 7 (2001), chapter two

S

 * [...] Anyone who might think of attacking them would also probably recognize that they were armed. She smiled slightly; all three of them actually had valid concealed-carry permits for the Belgian FiveseveN specials under their jackets. Although not for the P90 machine pistols in the attaché cases, and some of the stuff in the vehicle would be right out of it. Semtex, timers, detonators, cans of gasoline and thermite bombs, for example. Even if the invoice reads "Cleaning supplies" back at HQ.
 * S. M. Stirling, Conquistador (2003), chapter 1


 * "Did the rapid-response teams go in?" Murray asked. "Why don't they just take over?" "They didn't go in at all," Drew said. "They called me first and I waved them off. You think it's a bad situation now, try bringing in eight P90-toting goons wearing biosuits and watch the press jizz all over themselves."
 * Scott Sigler, Infected (2008), p. 267


 * For palace guard duty, in the wake of the recent civil disorder, Earl-Major Riordan had begun to reequip his men with FN P90s. A stubby, oddly melted-looking device little larger than a flintlock pistol, the P90 was an ultracompact submachine gun, designed for special forces and armored vehicle crews. Helmut's men were so equipped, and as the misguided young blood ran at them they opened fire. Unlike a traditional submachine gun, the P90 fired low-caliber armor-piercing rounds at a prodigious rate, from a large magazine. In the stone-walled hall, the detonations merged into a continuous concussive rasp. They fired for three seconds: sufficient to spray nearly two hundred rounds into the crowd from less than thirty feet.
 * Charles Stross, The Trade of Queens (2010), p. 292