FB Onyks

The FB Onyks, formally the 5.45 mm subkarabinek wz. 1989 Onyks, is a lightweight Polish carbine developed as a short variant of the 5.45 mm wz. 1988 Tantal assault rifle and, like that rifle, also based on the AKS-74U. Work began in 1989 at the Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy state research institute in Radom, with a team led by B. Szpaderski and chief engineers K. Styczyński and E. Wysocki. Production of first prototypes was approved in 1990, military qualification tests followed in 1991, and an initial pre-production batch to be built at the Łucznik Arms Factory in Radom was ordered in 1993. It was designed to equip airborne infantry, police and special operations units and vehicle crews. The carbine keeps the Tantal's layout, locking mechanism and ammunition but has a barrel 216 mm shorter with a conical flash hider that can also launch rifle grenades, a shortened gas system and a new flip rear sight with 100 to 200 m and 400 m settings. It never advanced past the research and development stage, though the article records use by the Polish SPAP unit and by FUNCINPEC forces during the 1997 Cambodian coup.