This cartridge was developed by Belgium gunmaker Fabrique Nationale for its new personal defense gun, the P90 and its companion pistol, the FN Five-Seven. The military armor-piercing variant of the round is claimed to be far superior to the NATO standard 9mm cartridge. The civilian variants of this cartridge are not available with armor-piercing bullets, and as such have a much weaker performance, closer to that of the .22 WMR (.22 Magnum).
