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Volume ? Issue 8l
Published by
Orbis Publishino Ltd
@ Aerospace P"ublishing Ltd 1985
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ilodernSub-
ilclchine Guns
Evolved tfuough necessity in the confuied spaces of the
trenches dudng World War I, the sub-machine gwr has found
a useful place in modern armed forces. SmaII, cheap and
easily concialed, it is an ideal weapon for facing the urbut
teworc of the latter half of the 20thcentuty.
Ever since the assault rifle became a viable weapon during the latter
stages of World War II the pundits have been saying that the sub-
machine gun's day was over. The trouble is that no one seems to have
told the designers of small arms or the men who use sub-machine gmns.
Today the numbers of sub-machine gn-tns on the market are as high as
ever, and more seem to appear each year. The modern sub-machine
gnrns described in this issue are but a few of the more important types
currentiy in use, There are many more types around, some of them
having been in service since World War II, but most of the types
described are of a much more sophisticated form. A-11 manner of detail
design features have been introduced to differentiate them from the
hasty tube and sheet metal designs of World War II, although the same
basic manufacturing principles are oiten used. Today there is more time
to apply better finishes and construction methods, but while costs may
have risen somewhat since World War II the modern sub-machine gnrn
is still a relatively cheap weapon, Perhaps it is this that ensures the
longevity of the type.
But it cannot be cost alone that maintains the sub-machine gmn in use
all over the world, Despite the many advantages that the assault rifle has
SouthAfrica is one of the many
nations to use the IsraeliUZL
First seeing major sewice in
9 5 6 Ar abJ s raeli conflic
the I t,
theUZI isoneof themost
successfu/pos t-war sub -
machine gun designs.
to offer, it is still a complex and lengthy weapon that is nowhere near as
eflective in close-quarter fighiing as the sub-machine grun. Despite the
increases in weapon power achieved in recent years, many combats
still take place at close ranges and here the sub-machine gnrn is still as
effective as it was when it was produced to 'sweep trenches of the
enemy' during World War L The short and handy sub:machine gmn still
reigns supreme in such circumstances.
Today the sub-machine gun is carried by one new operator, the
policeman or the member of a security organlzation. The growth of
national and international terrorisrn in recent years has meant that the
agencies set against it have to be armed as effectively as their highly
organized and well-armed opponents. Thus the sub-machine gun has
assumed a new and dangerous era, and it may be many years (ifever)
beiore the weapon is no longer used in this relatively new and but
dreadfully publlc cockpit,
Outside the Washington Hilton, 30 March 198 l, President Reagan has just
been sftof,'firs a ssailant is buriedunder a swarm of police and secret iervice
men. Prominent is the Israeli-made UZI sub-machine grun, carried by the
agent in the Ioregrou nd.
 ARGENTINA
ffi
ffiffi 9-mm PA3-DM
The Argentine PA3-DM is a typical ex-
ample of modern sub-machine gnrn de-
sign in two respects; one is the use of
the forward-mounted'wrap-around'
breech block and the other the ability
of a relatrvely unsophrsticated en-
gineering industry to produce modern
and viable weapons.
The \rrap-around' bolt is now a vir-
tual fixture on many modern sub- il
machine gmns, for it provrdes two im-
portant functions, One is that the
breech block is to a large extent for-
ward of the chamber when the car-
tridge is fired, so provrding extra mass desigm closely follows the Czech ort- though not in very qreat numbers. Captured by British forces on the
for the recoil to overcome, thereby ginal in overall construction, for it re- Some 'trophles' were returned to the Falklands during the South Ailantic
providing an increase in locking lies on the r.rse of simple stampinqs and United Kingdom and may be found in conUict, the PA3-DM exemplifies the
eff,ciency for what is otherwise a re- has as its recerver housing nothing some reqimental museums, but.other- modern sub-machine gun, being
latively effective but inefficient blow- more than a sectron olsteel tubing, The wise it is not a weapon that rs likely to simplydesigned and easy to
back system, The other advantage is PA3-DM has its cocking handle on the be encountered outside Argentina, manufacture.
that by placing much of the breech left-hand side well forward so that it where it is issued to the armed forces, J
block around the barrel the weapon can be operated by either hand, and a The PA3-DM rs manufachrred by the US M3Al calibred in 9 mm (0.354 rn).
lenqth can be much reduced, making hand grip r.s provrded forward of the Fabrica Mlhtar de Armas'Domingio Some of the other desigms, such as the
the overall design shorter and handier metal pistol gnoup assembly. The PA3- Matheu' at Rosario, from which the MEMS series and the Halcon gnls, i

for carriage and stowage, Nearly all
these lvrap-around' designs, and the
PA3-DM is no exception, use the pistol
gmp as the magazine housingi, and this
has the advantage of allourng rapid
aiming, for by holding the weapon with
the 'maste/ hand, one-handed firing is
possible as though the weapon Is a
pistol,
The flrst weapon to use thrs Wrap-
around' feature was the Czech vz 23
series, and it has appeared on many
subsequent weapons, The Argentine
DM may be found in two forms: one has
a fixed plastic butt, while the other has
a wire-form butt which telescopes for-
ward on each srde of the receiver. This
latter is a drect copy of the wire butt
used on the American M3 sub-
machrne gmn. On both versions the
barrel screws onto the front of the
tubular receiver and the barrel can be
adapted to mount a device.for laun-
ching grrenades,
The PA3-DM was used during the
Falkland Islands campaign of 1982,
'DM'of the desigmation js derived. It
only the iatest model in a long string of
sub-machrne giuns that have been de-
sigmed and produced in Argentina
since the penod just a-fter World War
II. Maly of these sub-machine gmns
were orthodox desigms with little of
note io mennon, ald not all of them
reached the full production stage.
Some v,.ere diect copies of successfui
desigms else.wheret for example, the
PAM 2 datrlrg from the early 1950s was
nothiag more than a duect copy of the
rs were more adventurous desigms that
made little impact outside Argentina.
Specification
PA3-DM (fixed-butt version)
Calibre: 9 mm (0.354 in) Parabellum
Weight:loaded3,9 kg (8.6 lb)
Iiengrth:700 mm (27,56 in)
Lengrthofbarrel: 290 mm(11,4 rn)
Muzzle velocity: 400 m (1,3 12 ft) per
second
Cyclic rate of fue: 650 rpm
Magazine: 2S-round box

ffi U-** L2A3 Sterlins

The sub-machine gun that rs now
almost universally lcrown as the Sterl-
ing entered Britlsh Army use in 1955
although an earller form, known as the
Patchett, underwent troop trials during
the latter stages of World War Ii, It was
intended that the Patchett would re-
place the Sten gmn, but in the event the
Sten lasted untrl well into.the 1960s,
The British army model is desig-
nated the L2A3 and equates to the
Sterling Mk 4 produced commercially
by the Sterhng Armament Company of
tems, although these are not widely
used.
Several variants ot the Sterling exrst,
One is a silenced version known to the
Britrsh army as the L34A1, This uses a
fixed silencer system allied to a spe-
cial barrel that allows the flring gases
to leak through the sides of the barrel
into a rotary baifle silencer that ls re-
markably efficient and almost silent ut
use. There is also a whole range of
what are known as paratrooper's pls-
tols that use only the pistol grroup ald
machhe gr;rs. ior one verston is ltteral-
ly golci-pia:ed These have been pro-
duceci for valous potentates in the
Middle Eas who use them for therr
persoral bccyguards and to impress
visitors bc-.h. srlenced and normal ver-
sions ha;e been produced wlth gold
platrng 3:::nLum-plated versions
have ai.s ;een made.
Righl: The Sterling saw considerable
serwice in Malaya and Borneo, where i
the inherent inaccaracy of the ,i

Dagenham, Essex, This weapon is one the receiver allied to a shorl magazrne machine gun proved no {
of the major export successes of the and a very short barrel. These are 'il

post-war years, for to date it has been available in singrle-shot or machine B e low : Th eterling k s een on
S
sold to over 90 countries and it is still in prstol versions, Several types of fhtsh exerase in the UK, at B assingbourn.
production in several forms. The basrc are produced, includingr what must be Itis bing replaced by the new
service model is of srmple design with that for the most luxurious of sub- E nfie Id I ndiuidu al W eapon.
the usual tubular receiver and a fold-
ing metal butt stock, but where the
Sterling differs from many other de-
sigms is that it uses a curved box maga-
zine that protrudes to the left, Thts
arrangement has proved to be
elficient rn use and presents no prob-
lems, It has certainly created no prob-
lems for the army in India where the
type is produced under licence, or rn
Canada where the design is produced
as the Cl with some slight modifica-
tions.
The Sterling is a simple blowback
weapon with a heavy bolt, but thrs bolt
rncorporates one ofthe best features of
the design in that it has raised and
inclined splines that help to remove
any internal dust or drt and push it out
of the way. This enables the Sterling to
be used under the worst possible con-
ditions. The usual magazine holds 34
rounds, but a lO-round magazine is
avallable along with a stdng of acces-
sories including a bayonet, The
weapon can be fitted with any number
of night vision devrces or siQthting sys-

r 602
t'lachine Pistols
Thevirtues of the sub-machine gun in close-quartercombat
soon /ed designers to attempt to turn the contemporary self-
Ioading (or automatic) pistol into a fully automatic weapon.

Almost as soon as the automatic pistol was first produced clesigners were
tempted into allowing their progeny to f ire in f ully automatic burstq The conven-
tional automatic pistol simply fires a round, re-cocks itself and lbads another
round ready to fire on the repeated pull of a trigger. By simply keeping the trigger
mechanism out of the way it was iand is) easy to allow the pistol to produce
burst fire, but the designers soon learned that this was not a course to be
undertaken lightly.
in-e biitoi ijit'rioge is weak compared with a rifle cartridge, but can strll
produce considerable recoil forces. lf such cartridges are fired in rapid succes-
sion tney can soon overcome the mass of a light nand-neld pistol and rorce 1ne Above : The H eckler und Koch VP-70 Below: To convert a blowbac k p :s :.
:

muzzle to rise or jump about erratically. ln eilher case aimed fire becomes is an ingrenrous modern attempt to tofull automatic, all that is regu:rt=
almost impossible. Moreover, tne bolts of most p stols dre light, and this allows produce a controllable machine r'ssomemeans of interrupting tne
f ull automatic fire to be very rapid indeed, to the extent that the limited ammuni- pistol.Automatic fire is only possibJe ttigger mechanrlm. ?ftjs rlom e-.: : ::
tion capacity of most pistols will be used in less than a second. These two when the holster/stock is fitted. conversion of a Governmen t M o c +.
limitatiins have made the machine pistol something of a rarity among combat allowing three - r ou nd bu rs ts. T h e Coltwas captured from the IRA i:,
weapons, but the machine pistol has nonetheless t"urned up ihrough6ut small burst facility allows reasonable Ulster. Note the extended magaz::.:
arms deveiopment. aimed automatictire.
ifre-tirsi-6i the machine pistols to be used on any large scale were the
Mausers. Derived from the C/96 pistols, tde Schnellfeuer (quick {ire) pistols
became very popular at one time. They must be judged as among the more
successf ul o{ the type, tor the old C/96 'broomhandle' pistols had the bulk and
weight to overcomd, partially at lss51, some of tne recoil forces while the box
magazines in f ront of the trigger guard had the space potential to accommodate
long magazines. But outside Germany and to a lesser extent Spain these
Mauser machine pistols never caught on to any great exlent in Europe. ln the Far
East, however, it was a different story, The Chinese took to the Mausers with a
will and were soon turning out their dwn locally-produced copies that varied n
materials and manufacturing standards from the excellent to the vile. The
Chinese found the machine fistol to be just the sort of weapon that struck fear
into an opponent, and the wdr lords who ruled in China between the world wars
found them ideal for keeping their subjects under control. The Chinese even
discovered the way to use the machinb pistol's muzzle jump to good effect:
they simply turned their Mausers onto one side as they fired so that, instead of
spraying bullets at the sky, the machine pistol produced a wide fan of lethal
projectiles that could cover a wide horizontal arc. This simple expedient has
been little used elsewhere, but in the Far East this ploy was standard practice.
During World War ll the machine pistol underwent a brief flurry of revival but
the advantages of the sub-machine gun proved to be too many for the relatively
expensive machine pistol, and few were made. From time to time interest was
revived, but it was nbt until after World War ll that service examples were seen
in any numbers. These were intended for use by the crews of armoured or 'B' Despiie the problems with rne rnachine pistol l:sted above, it would be :-. .. =
vehicles who djd not normally requrre a rifle, or who drd not have the space to to list its advantages. The machine pistol can have a considerable shock ei-::. -
carry one on their normal duties. For such personnel the machine pistol seemed confined areas where any sudden spray of automatic fire will hit a target. - , -
=
attraciive and thus the Czech Skorpion. the Polish wz 63 and the Soviet Stechkin the knowledge that a sudden burst of fire might be imminent can be enoug- ':
came upon the scene. The Stecnt<in may be regarded as an update oi the oid the owner of such a weapon to control local events. and it is this latter facl :-,.
Mauser pistols. lt has even revived the practice of using a wooden holsterthat makes the mach ine pistol attractive to many police and secu rity forces. Er r - . -
doubles as a butt stock, and it retains allthe old probiems ol muzzle climb during many sub-machine guns are now small and handy enough to rival the fac;lit e. ,'
burst fire. At least the Skoroion and the wz 6i have bulk and some deoree oi the machine pistol, the Mini-UZl and the lngram designs being cases in p: -:
compensation built into their designs. But no doubt the machine pistol will continue to surface in the future.

The Sterlinq in all rts forms has

proved to be a very reliable and s'iurdy
weapon. With many armies, inciuding
the British army the weapon rs used to
arm secondline personnel who do not
have to carry the normal service rifle
and on vehrcles it can easily be folded
away to take up very Iittle stowage
space, With the British Army the L2A3
will gradually be replaced by the new
5.56-mm (0.219-in) Individual Weapon
(lW) starting in the near future, but the
iarge numbers of Ster[ngs stil] around
the world mean that it will still be a
wideiy used type for many years to
come.

Specification
L2A3
Calibre:9 mm (0,354 rn) Parabellum
Weight: Ioaded 3.47 ks (7,65 lb)
Lendh: with stock extended 690 mm
(27, i6 in) andwith stockfolded
483 mm (19 in)
Lengrthof barrel: 198 mm(7,8 in)
Muzzlevelocity:390 m (1 280 ft) per
second Replacing the ubiquitous Sten in British Army service, the Sterling L2A3 9-mm sub-machine gun has been so/d rn
Cyclic rate offire: 550 rpm over 90 countries, and has proved effective and re]iable under the most extreme of weather conditions, ranging
Magrazine: l0- or 34-round from Arctic cold to jungle heat and humidity.
Eru lil** rr
Durrng World War II a Lieutenant
Owen rnvented the sub-machine grum
that stl]] bears his name, and this
weapon was used by Australian sol-
drers dunng World War II and for
many years after it, One of the most
recognizable features of the Owen
sub-machine gun was the vertical
magazine, a feature with no parttcular
merlt or demerit but one that the Au-
srrahans found very much ro their lik-
ing. Thus when the Australian army
began searchingt for a new desigp to
replace the old and worn Owens, it
was not averse to choosinq a design
wrrh an overhead vertical magazlne.
Before selecting the design now
known as the Fl, the Australians in-
vestiqated a number of experimental
weapons that rejoiced in such names
as 'Kokoda' and the 'MCEM', Some of
these e;<perimental desiqns had some
advanced features but were generally
regTarded as not being 'soldier-proof
enough to suit Australian conditions.
But in 1962 a design known as the X3
was selected for production, and this
became the Fl, The predilections of
ine Australian mililary were very evr-
dent, for the F I has a vertical magazine
but in order to allow a certarn amount
of interchangreability with other
weapons the maqazine is now curved
and identical to that of the British Ster-
irno anci the (.;anadran (ll.
ihrs interchangeability factor rs also
evrdent in several other features of the
Fl. The pistol grip is the same as that
used on the LlAl 7.62-mm (0.3-in)
NATO rifle, and the bayonet is another
Sterling component, In fact it is temp-
ting to regard the Fi as an Austraiian
Sterling but there eire too many differ-
ences to suppod such a claim The Fl
uses a simple'straighlthrough' design
\4'1th the butt fixed in line with the tubu-
lar receiver, and the pistol group is
arranged differently from that of the
Sterling. The overhead maqtazine does
produce one difficulty, namely sight-
ing. in action deliberate aiminq is not
common but has to be taken into
account, so a form of offset sighting
system had to be introduced. On the
F I this is done srmply by using an offset
leaf sight (foldinq down onto the tubu-
lar receiver) allied with a fixed offset
ioresrght, The Fl does have one rather
unusual safety built into the design
which is not common but yet is simple Above: Replacing the extremely Below: Simple and effective, the F I in
and effective: on a short-barrelled popular Owen sub-machine gun in its prototype X3 form performed
weapon it is often too easy to place the Australian seruice, the F I retains the extremely well in the Mekong Delta
forward grip over the muzzle or too uniquelyAustralian feature of a during the Vietnam War Modern
close to it for safety, but on the Fl a vertical top- Ioading magazine. The construction made it almost I kg
srmple sling swivel bracket prevents F I is othetwise similar to the Sterling. (2.2Jb) lighter than its Woild
the hand from getting too close to the Watll ancestor.
mtzzle.
The Fl has some other simple but
effective design features. One is the
cocking handle, which exactly dupli-
cates the position and action of its
counterpart on the LlAl standard ser-
vice rifle in use with the Australian
forces; this handle has a cover whtch
prevents dirt and debris getting into
the action, thouqh 1f enough dirt does
get into the action to prevent the bolt
closing the cocking handle can be
Iatched to the bolt for the flrer to force
it closed ln an emergency,
For all its many attdbutes the F1 has
yet to be bought outside Australia and
some of lts associated terntodes. At
one time there was talk of its being
replaced by the American M16A1
rifle, but the Fl is strll around and
seems set for a long service career to
come,
Specification
FI
Calibre:9 mm (0.354 in) Parabellum
Weight: loaded 4.3 kq (9,48 lb) with
bayonet
Length: 714 mm (28. I in)
Lengrthof barrel213 mm(8,386 in)
Muzzle velocity: 366 m ( 1,200 ft) per
second
Cyclicrate offirer 600-640 rpm
Magazine: 34-round cuwed box

9-mm Model 45
The 9-mm Model45 was produced orr
ginaily by the Karl Gustav Stads
Gev2irsfaktori (now part of the FFV
consortium) at Eskilstuna and is thus
widely known as the Carl Gustav sub-
machine gun. The Model 45 is an en-
trely oithodox desiqn with no frilis,
and uses a simple tubular receiver and
barrel cover with a simple folding butt
hinged onto the pistol grip assembly.
The usual blowback operaling prtnci-
ple rs employed, and overall there is
nothing remarkable about the Model
45,
But there is one inlerestrng point re-
qtardingr the Model 45, and that is the
magazine, On many sub-machine gnns
the magazine is usually one of the most
trouble-prone components, for the
magazine relies upon simple spring
pressure to push the rounds towards
the receiver, whence they are fed into
the firing system. It is all too easy for
rounds to become misaligned or
forced together and the result is then a
misfeed or jam, and these can happen
at inoppodune moments in combat, On
the original Model 45 the magazine
used was that once used on the pre-
war Suomi Model 37-39, a S0-round
maqazine that was then considered to
be one ofthe best in use anprhere, But
in l94B a new maqazine was tntro-
duced thal held 36 rounds tn twin rows
that were carefully tapered into a sing-
le row by the use of a wedge cross-
section, This new maqtazine proved to
be remarkably reliable and trouble-
free in use, and was soon betng widely
copied elsewhere, Production Model
45s were soon being offered with a
revised magazine housinq to
accommodate both the Suomi maga-
zine and the new wedge-shaPed
maqazine, and this version was known
as the Model 45/B, Later production
models made provision for the wedge-
shaped magazine only,
The Model 45 and Model 45/B be-
came one of Sweden's few major ex-
port weapons, Numbers were sold to
Denmark and some other nations such
as Eire, EWpt produced the Model
45/B as the 'Port Said' under licence.
Copies have also been produced rn
Indonesra. Perhaps the oddest service
use of the Model 45/B was in Vietnam.
Numbers of these weapons were
obtarned by the American CIA.and
converted in the United States to take a
specral barrel allied to a silencer,
These were used in action in Vietnam
by the US Special Forces on undercov-
The 9-mm Mode[45 is generally
known as the Carl Gustav, alter its
m anuf actur er. C onventional in
design and operation, ithas been in
production since I 945 and has been
expottddwidely.

604
 9-mm Model 45 (continued)
er missions. Accordinq to most reports
the silencers were not particularly
effective and they were not retained in
use for long.
Numerous accessories have been
produced for the Model 45, one of the
oddest being a special muzzle attach-
ment that doubles as a blank firing de-
vtce or a short-range target training
devlce. The attachment is used
toqether with special plastic bullets
which are shredded into preces as
they leave the muzzle for safety, These
bullets generate enough gas pressure
to operate the mechanism and if re-
quired enough pressure is available to
project a steei ball from the attachment
itself. Thrs reusable steel ball can thus
be used for shorlrange target prac-
tice.
Modern Sub-Machine Grlrs
Specification
Model4S/B
Calibre:9 mm (0,354 in) M39B
Parabellum
Weight: loaded 4,2 kg (9.25 lb)
Length: with stock extended B0B mm
(31,8 in) and with stock folded 551 mm
(2i.7 in)
Lengnh ofbarrel 2 13 mm (B.3BS in)
Muzzle velocity: 365 m ( l, i9B ft) per
second
Cyclic rate of fire: 550-600 rpm
Magazine:36-roundbox
Used by many countries, including
EWpt (in the I I 67 war with I srael)
and the USA (in a silencedversion by
special forces in Vietnam), the C arl
G u stav rem ains inTarge - s c
ale
seruice with the Swedish forces.

9-mm MAT 49
Imrriedrately after 1945 the French
armed forces were armed with a varie-
ty of sub-machine gmns, some of them
dating from before the war and others
were coming from the United States
and the United Klngdom, While the
weapons were serviceable enough,
the range of ammunition calibres and
types was considered to be too wide,
and after a selection process it. was
decided to standardize on the 9-mm
Parabellum round for future develop-
ments, A new sub-machine gnrn of
French origins was requested, and
three arsenals responded with new
designs, That of the Manufacture
d'Armes de Ttlle (hence MAT) was
selected, and the weapon went into
production in 1949,
The IvIAT 49 is still in widespread
service, for it is a very well made
weapon, _Althouqh it uses the now-
commonplace method of fabricating
parts and assemblies from stampinqs,
those in the MAT 49 were made ftom
heavy-duty steels and are thus very
strong and capable of absorbing a
gEeat deal ofhard use, The design uses
the blowback principle but rn place of
what is now described as a 'wrap-
around'breech block to reduce the
lengrth of the receiver the MAT 49 has
an anangement inwhich a srzable por-
tion ofthe breech block enters the bar-
rel chamber to have much the same
effect, No other desigm uses this fea-
twe, and there rs another aspect of the
MAT 49 which is typically French, Thrs
is the magazine housing, which can be
folded forward with the magazine rn-
serted to reduce the buik of the
weapon for stowage and transport,
This feature is a carry-over from the
pre-war MAS 38, and was considered
so effective by the French army that it
was retained in the MAT 49: a catch is
depressed and the magazine housing
(with a loaded magazine in place) is
folded forward to 1ie under the barrel,
while to use the weapon again the
magazine is simply pulled back into
place so that the housing acts as a fore-
grip. Thrs foregrip is made all the more
important by the fact that the MAT 49
can be fired on automatic only, so a
firm grip rs needed to keep the
weapon under control when fired.
Considerable pains are taken on the
MAT 49 to keep out dust and dirt,
which is another hrstorical carry-over
from previous times as the MAT 49 was
intended for use in the deserts ofNorth
Africa. Even when the magazine is in Specification
the forward position a flap moves rnto MAT49
position to keep out foreign matter. If Calibre: 9 mm (0.354 in) Parabellum
repairs or cleaning are required the Weight:loaded4, U kg(9, 19 lb)
weapon can be easily stripped without Length:with butt extended 720 rnrn
tools. In action a gnip safety locks both (28,34 in) and with butt ctosed 460 n:r::
the trigger mechansm and any possi- (18, I in)
ble forward movement of the bolt, Lengrthof barrel:228 mm (8.97 rn)
Overall the MAT 49 is a sturdy and Muzzle velocity: 390 m (l,2BO ft) per
foolproof weapon, It is still used by the second
French armed forces and byvarious of Cyctc rate offire: 600 rpm
the French pohce and paramilltary un- Magazine: 20- or 32-round box
its, It has also been sold abroad to
many of the ex-French colonies and
wherever French interests prevail,
There is a chance that the recent intro-
duction of the 5.56-mm (0,219-in) FA
MAS rifle to the French army may re-
duce the numbers in seryice, but there
are enough operators left to ensure
that the MAT 49 will remain around for
a long time to come.

Above: Entering French sewice in Right: Designed with colonial sewice

I 949, the 9-mm MAT 49 is an
extremely rugged design, made
from heavy-gauge steeJ stamprngs.
The pistol giriplmagazine housing
hinges forward for stowage and
transport.
in mind, the MAT 49 was used
extensively in Indo-China, as well as
with the paratroops so notably
involved in the bloody conflict in
Algeria. I t stood sucft slern tests
successfully.
 Heckler'und Koch MPS
Since World War II the West German
concern of Heckler und Koch has be-
come one of Europe's largest and most
important small-arms manufacturers
with its success based soundly on.the
production of its G3 rifle, whtch has
become a standard NATO weapon
and is rn use all over the world. Work-
ing from the G3 and employing its
highly efficient breech-lockrng
mechanism, the company has also pro-
duced the Heckler und Koch MPS,
whrch may thus be regarded as the
sub-machine gmn version of the G3,
In appearance the MPS looks very
similar to the G3 although it is of course
much shorter, It fires the usual 9-mm
(0.354-in) x 19 Parabellum cartridqre,
and although this is relatively low-
powered compared with the 7,62-mm
(0,3-in) rifle cartridge the MPS uses the
same rolier and inclined ramp locking
mechanism as the G3, The complexity
of this system is more than offset by its
increased safety, and by the ability of
the MPS to be flred very accurately as
rt can fire from a closed bolt, i,e, the
breech block rs in the forward position
when the trigger rs pulled so there is
no forward-movrng mass to drsturb the
arm as there is with other.sub-machine
gmns. The resemblance to the G3 is
maintained by the use of many G3
components on the MPS,
There are six main versions of the
MPS. The MPSA2 has a fixed butt stock
while the MPSA3 has a metal strut
stock that can be slid forward to re-
duce its lenqth. There are no fewer
than three differing versions of the
MPS SD, which rs a silenced version of
the basic model for use in special or
anti-terrodst warfare. The MPS SDI
does not have a butt stock at all; the
MPS SDz has a fixed butt as on the Top: The MPSA3 ii fitted with a Ab6ve:The MPSA2 is fittedwith fixed Below: The MP1SD3 is a srTenced
MP5A2; and the MPS SD3 has the slid- sliding metal stiut stockwhich can plastic butt stock. After 1978 the MP1 version of the MPSA3, all parts
inq metal butt stock used on the allow a considerable reduction in was fitted with a cuwed magazine to except barrel and silencer being the
MPSA3. Then there is the MPSK which overall length, from 660 mm (26 in) improve car tridge feed. same. /f r's used by several military
is averyshortversionof the basic MPS, to490 mm(19.3 iil. and police forces around the world.
cniy 325 mm (I2.8 in) long and recog-
nuable by a small foregurp under the
almost non-existent muzzle, The MPSK
AI rs a special version of this variant
','nth no protrusions so that rt can be
carried under clothing or in a special
nolster.
In all its forms the MPS has proved to
be an excellent and reliable sub-
nachrne gnrn. it is in use with some oi
:e vanous West German police agen-
cres and border gmards, and numbers
have been purchased by Swiss police
ard the Netherlands armed forces, It is
krown to be one of the weapons most
:avoured by the British SAS for close-
quarter combat.
Un-fofiunately some MPSs have fal-
ien irito the wrong hands, usually by
-reft foom weapon stores. The MP5
-,';as the main weapon of the Baader-
Iieinhoff gang and many similar
;iloups are known to have used the
I'PS at one time or another, The MPS Right : The extr emely s hor t M P 5 K w as
::as been described by one counter- introduced for use by special police
r:tsurgency authority as 'the most and anti-terrorist squads, where
:Scient terrorlst weapon now in pro- weapon concealment may be
a:-ictlon', and it will no doubt feature in essenfiaJ.
rany future terrorist or 'freedom
:;ihtel outrages. Thrs future use might Specification
rell rnvolve various forms of night MP5A2
for the MPS has been demons-
srgr.it. Calibre:9 mm (0,354 in) Parabellum
:a:ed on numerous occasions with Weight: loaded 2,97 ks (6.55 lb)
sr:a dences, alonq rmth other sighting Lengrth:680 mm (26,77 in)
je'ices such as telescopic sights and Length of barrel 225 mm (8.86 in)
: -rer rapid-arming systems, Muzzle velocity: 330 m ( I 083 ft) Per
,

second
Cyclic rate offire: 800 rpm
Magazine: 15- or 30-round box
Embqssg Siege!
The dazzling operation to free the
I ranian embassy hostages in I 980
provided more publicity than theSAS
would have wished. Foremost in the
public mind were the questions,'Where
did they come from?' and'What did they
dointhere?'

Even though the Specral Air Service per- at

formed brilliantly during World War il, it was

disbanded subsequently, together wlth all
other special force units. This was largeiy be-
cause official thinking held that the SAS role
could be undertaken by units detached from,
say, the Paras or Royal Marlnes; an inherent
dishke |cr 'private armies'; and an overall finan-
cial cutback.
The Malayan Emergency demonstrated,
however, that there were certain vital roles that
only an SAS{ype unit could perform, and that
these roles demanded a very special type of
soldrer who could indrvrdually be found
throughout the entire British army, but was not
concentrated to any great extent in any one
regiment, The SAS was thus re-formed, with a
similar role to that undertaken in World War II:
long-range reconnalssance, sabotage and
generai mayhem undertaken by basic four-
man patrols. And although they were now
f,qhting a counter-rnsurgency war, with all the
obvious differences between that and conven- campaign (1964) were relatrvely quiet for the The shooting dead of the Embassy Press Officer is
tlonal war, it was sttll a far cry from becoming SAS, Ever mrndful of the need to keep their a signal that time is running out for the other
activeiy involved in counter revolutionary war- soldiers active ln some way (not to mention the hostages, and the siege m ust be broken within
fare (CRW) let alone becomrng the leading requlrements of Whitehall and army politlcs), minutes if more innocent lives are not to be lost.
practitioners of iis art, How the SAS achieved The SAS CRW (Counter-Revolutionary W arfare)
the SAS offered themselves as 'bodyguard' troop are given the go-ahead from the highest
this role owes as much to the regiment's own trarners: people whom the government of the authority.
rnitiative as it does to the demands of a drasti- day could loan to friendly (generally third
cally changing world, world) governments to trarn their own personal
The years between the end of the Malayan protection squads, Needless to say, in most
Emergency (1960) and the start of the Radfan instances the offer was gratefully accepted;
From adjoining balconies, four black-clad figrures
Simultaneously, another team is abseiling from the and as well as teachrng, the SAS also learned a move onto the embassy, placingexplosives
roof of the building at the rear, armed with smoke, great deal, including the basrc techniques for against the windows. Within seconds, an
flash and concussiongrenades.The two teams are breaking out hostages held by a small group of explosion is heard, and the SAS team is in the
in the embassy within seconds of each other. fanatics, building.
Embassy Siege!
The SAS made use of these techniques on its
own account during undercover operations in
Aden, but the real switch from counter-
insurgency to counter-revolutionary warfare
occurred in 1972 the year of the Munrch Olym-
pics and the massacre of the israeli athletes,
Operational postmortems established that the
German security forces had made mistakes,
but that no blame could be attached because
they were not trained to deal with totally ruth-
less, dedicated fanatrcs, well trained in all the
terrorist arts. Putting regular police or militaiy
units against this type of enemy is rather like
expecting a 'Sunday only' driver to do well at
the Monaco Grand Prix, The German response
was to set up GS G9; the British response was to
enlarge the role of the SAS to counter the CRW
threat, but still concentrating on basic 'extrac-
Inside the building, the shock tactics andweapons
used bytheCRW teams have stunned both
hostages and terrorists. The SAS troopers shoot
first, rather than ask questions, as the raised hand
of a terrorist is equally likely to hold agrenade as
to be surrendering.
tion' techniques, Finally, the Mogadishu hrjack
brought home to polrticians that the CRW
threat could be countered effectively only by
having in reserve a unit that was more effective
and posslbly even more ruthless than the ter-
rorists themselves. It was not a new concept:
the Israehs had been saying the same thing for
years and moreover had proved 1t to be true,
Accordingly, the SAS established a troop
(codenamed'Pagoda' after the abseiling tower
in Hereford) devoted to CRW. A Close Quarter
Battle house was also built, and here the troop
was trained to enter a room and put two bullets
rnto evqry terrorist within seconds, carefully
avoidlng shooting any hostages, This led to
choice of weaponry, The SAS is allowed to
choose its own weaponsi field trlals narrowed
the cholce of sub-machine gn-lns to two: the
9-mm Ingram MAC 1l and the 9-mm Heckler
und Koch HK MPS. Both have a nearly rdentical
magazine capacity (32 for the MAC I I and 30
for the MPS). But the MPS proved more robust,
and a burst fired from the MAC I I tends to
spray, increasing the chances ofhrtting a non-
combatant. There was a further consideration,
namely ricochets; there is no point in hitting a
terrorist with a bullet if that bullet can exit to
ricochet off a wall and kill or maim a hostage or
even one's own troops. The need is for an SMG
that can accurately flre a low-velocity bullet
(soft-nosed for stopprng power), and flrr this the
HPS proved ldeal, Afiectionately known as
'Hochlers' the SAS MPSs now boast a cuwed
magazine designed to take the special bullets
wrthout jammrng,
Armed with I 3-shot Browning High Power pistols
and'Hochlers' (H&K MPS sub-machine guns) and
trained to pick out targets in smoke-filled rooms
and to shoot with hair's-breadth accuracy, fieSfrS
troopers are more than a match for the terrorists.
Withinseconds,four are down and thehostages
are being bundled out of the building at
bewildering speed.
 Modern Sub-Machine Guns
BBC sound man Harris, escaping through the first-
floorwindows of the embassy, is ordered across
the balcony by the menacing figure ofan SAS
trooper and brusquely ordered to lie down.

The SAS achievement was not luck, but a product

of extremely arduous training and painstaking
preparations from the moment the siegre was
announced. The teaqn, familiar with the building
from plans and surveillance, trained to actwiththe
ulmosl speed a nd, where necessary, ruthlessness.
made their planandcarried it outwith a
professionilism few in theworld could match. {

F-

ili.:rlil:;,.:]ltt:111
 Embassy Siege!
cocking ever
front sight
cocking lever houslng
front sight holder
cocking iever support
handguard locking pin
receiver
handquard

lugs for fitting: blank attachment rifllnq (six qrooves, right-hand twist)
flash hider batrel

grenade launcher 9-mm Parabellum round

bo t head

locking rollers

Eeclder wtd Koch MP|

The SA,S is allowed to choose its own
weapons, and after extensive trials decided
toadopt the GermanHecklerund Koch
MFS. Robust and reliable, the'Hocl[ers', as release lever

they were soon dr:bbed, fire the relatively

krw-powered 9-mm (0.354-in) x 19
and release level
Parabellum cartridge, which reduces the
danger of ricochet in house-to-house
fietting. By firing from the closed bolt
posfiorL the MPS achieves greater
accuracy than most other sub-machine
En:ns, there being no forward-moving mass
to disturb the aim.

-ia: ire seizure of the lranian embassy in political and operational reasons, the SAS can- rorists may surrender the moment they know
-:-i::l dr:ring was inspired by the Iraqi
1980 not be seen to be the sole counter force avail- that the SAS is involved, others are just as likely
J:r-=:nent in order to embarrass Tehran is able, First, the maintenance of the rule of law is to panlc and kilt everyone they can. From this
:e]::-i a shadow of doubt. What is forgotten is and must remain the responsibility of the day on, extensive monitoring and surveillance,
--,=: -'re :errorists were told that Irondon had pollce; second, there is an obvious manpower using.the latest electronic techniques, is
:e:: :hosen as a target because, amongst probiem; and third, 'private armies' are stili started, Luckrly, one of the houses next to the
:,:=:
-*:e-
loltsiderations, the lrondon police are unpopular with large sections of the public, embassy is vacant, and from here two types of
<:d and wrll not kill you, (lt does seem even though the SAS is by no stretch of the probes are inserted through the walls, under
-;i=: ::e lrnage of the friendly Brltish 'bobby' imagination'private'. the direction of Scotland Yard's C7, whrch has
==:3's al-i sorts of tourists to these shoresl) But operational control of the latest high-
in-:-= s:ch a comment shows a certain amount Embassy siege operational timetable technology surveillance devices, The first type
:i:::-::gr on the part of the man who made it Day 1 (Wednesday 30 ApriD of probe is a simple microphone, the second a
.=s r='- a degnee of naivety on the part of the I1,32: Iranian Embassy serzed by Moslem ter- more elaborate 'borescope', Thrs latter is a Brit-
:r€- -r,:.=sbeheved it), it also indicates that ter- rorist group, ish invention, developed by Keymed Indust-
:::r::: -isiaily operate only where they thrnk 15.00: SAS advance team on site, Though used rial, and uses fibre optics to 'see' thrcugh wal1s
-:el -:- ge: away wlth it: there is reduced
-iE--€:,
as a last-resort force, the SAS is not called in at and other solid objects, Originally developed
an operation where all of the the last minute, but was (and still is) used in for medical and industrial purposes, its vaiue in
::y:=;es =:'-lning
are achieved and most of the partt- assesslng the threat and planning countermea- CRW (and indeed in general crime preven-
:TIe:= -e Cled, Aside from anything else, it sures from the outset, tron) soon became obvious, First, a tiny hole is
r3trr-:'jag that much harder. However, Day2(ThursdayIMay) bored through a wall; then a fibre optical lense
=Er:€s ::
-''=
-=. be te f,rst trme that the SAS CRW I0,00: An official denial of SAS involvement is is inserted to provide (either on a TV monitor or
-=;:':= ::.:p -.',-culd be seen tn action in its
just
issued, This is not so much to mislead the pub- drrect to the naked eye) wide angle or close-up
- irr: tr:-;l-_; tsl;: il
r,,l'as not the SASI for both lic as to mrslead the terroristst whlle some ter- pictures of the next door room. The borescope

-: - -
 Modern Sub-Machine Gr,rn s

slidlng butt gurde rails

locklng catch

locklng pin for retractable butl

ir: :: ector lever: retractable butt stoc<

S - safe
E - single
F - burst

shank and
-:E::--e
r-:-:ssion sprinq
nI:
- tt;::
- f,r:-
-
=r:: : cow S9fln9
-
*-:i:l:r in burst mode)

:an also be used to look instde suspect letters,
parcels and even petrol tanks; in this instance it
:stablishes where the hostages are being kept
-rd provides visual identification of the terror-
'<s ihemselves, and the weapons they are us-
:9,
)ay 3 to 5 (Friday 2 May to Sunday 4 May)
l.egotiations continue wlth the terrorists, The
SAS refines its battle plan, Towards the end of
-:s period, outside norse (low-flying aircraft,
'l ::ad drills etc,) are brought into use: the
:=asoningr ls that if the SAS does in, it will be
';lder cover of such noises, and Qto
that it ls better
:: get the terrorists used to them now,
-ay6(MondaySMay)
l.egotiations have broken down, Surveillance
:-Cicates that the terrorists are llkely to start
srcotrngtheir hostages, asindeedthey do. The
:ecision is taken that while the death of one
:-:stage (non-Britrsh) can be tolerated, the
jieat or implementation of any more murders
:,"..'' mean an SAS attack, In particular, the SAS
:::'-rst clear and secure the first floor,
-: 23: At the front of the building, a four-man
:=am blows out the armour-plated windows,
-::cws in stun grenades and enters the room,
l.l:-,'ing past one of the hostages taking cover
:--- ]re floor, the team finds PC Trevor Lock (a
:--s:age from the beginning) grappling on the
;:;rnd with one of the terrorists, One SAS sol-
:-:r shoots the gunman, and PC Lock tells him
that there are now six terrorlsts left in the
ing, 'Room clear, PC confirms six terrorists,'
shouts the SAS soldier to his mates, and this
information is quickly relayed to ail other mem-
bers of the attack force. An assault is ordered
on the ambassador's office; an armed terrorist
is driven back rnsrde the office by a controlied
burst from an HPS; three soldiers following up
discover him lying on a sofa, pointing a gun in
their direction; three more bursts and he is
dead, spare ammunrtion falling from his hand in
his death throes, Meanwhile, another assault
group has abseiled down the rear of the build-
rng, One of this group is left dangling as his
equipment jams: he orders the men still on the
roofto cut the rope, and lands on a second-floor
balcony, Bursting through the window, he
makes his way through the telex room (where
he notrces the body of another terrorrst), A
group of hostages and two men separate form
the hostages are huddled together on the floor.
He asks them who they are rn Arabic, and they
reply that they are students. Calling for assist-
ance, he orders them searched, The search
reveals a hidden revolver and ammunition, and
the terrorist wlth the revolver snatches his
hands to the centre of his body - he could,
probably is, gorng lor a grenade, but a burst
from an HP5 silences him forever. The hos-
tages are now taken rather than led to safety as
there is no way of knowing if a terrorist is hrding
build- amonqtst them. They are literal]y throvt,r: :::-
SAS soldier to SAS soldier down the staus a:-:
their hands quickly secured, laid down n -:=
back garden until they can be identfied --:
untrl all the terrorists are discovered,
19.40: Within 17 mlnutes, all the hostages 1:-,-:
been identrfled. A11 the terrorists have b:=:-
killed, except one who drsguised himsef =. :
',',':-:---
hostage and made no threatening move
he was discovered,
The lesson
Should you ever decide to take c:,-er -::-
embassy and the SAS comes storming :- ;:
not fight back, Get rid of as many clothes rs ;::
can to show you are not carrying a con:-='=j
weapon. If posslble, tie your own hands be:-:- j
yor:r back, and lie on the floor and keep -.-e:,;
very still, You just might get out a-live. -.';i::- .
more than did the murdered hostages a: :-=
Iranian embassy, or the Munich athleles :t:-:
women and children at Lod airpori
Better still decide to make your .:::3::
some other way, because unless yo; ar3 ',-::r
lucky and incredibly skrlled, when --ee S-:j -:
GS G9, or Deita Force, or if you are ir -:e ,SS:
the Spetsnaz) troops come stor::i.; j- -.': -
will only have about four mlnutes ,c ',',n:: r-: -l
will and wonder if maybe you macie a :::,. -- .::
@ tii;Iffi[' MP-K and MP-L
Walther has for long been in the fore-
front of small arms design and de-
velopment, but the end of World War
II saw most of its facilities taken over by
the new East German government, so
for many years the company was un-
able to re-enter its chosen market. But
by the early l96Os Walther was back tn
busrness, and in 1963 introduced its
9-mm (0.354-in) Walther MP-K and
MP-L sub-machine guns,
The MP-K and MP-], (MP standtng
for Maschinenpisfoie, K for kurz or
short, and L for lange or long) differ
only in their baffel length, They are
both well-made sub-machine guns
constructed in the usual manner from
steel stampings, and both use the same
blowback operating principle,The
butt stock is a skeleton tube arrange-
ment, and when not in use this can be
folded along the riqht-hand side of the
receiver. The box magazine is in-
serted rnto a housing under the receiv-
er and lust forward of the trigger
ffi ?6tcil' rype
The Chinese Tlpe 64 is one of the most
unusual sub-machine gmns in service
today, for it has been designed and
produced from the outset as a stlenced
weapon. During World War II several
types of machine-qun were fitted with
various types of suppressor for special
missions (such as behind{helines and
commando{ype operations), but no
country went to the extent of produc-
ing a special weapon for these roles,
For reasons best known to themselves
the Communist Chinese have done so,
The Type 64 fires the standard
Soviet 7.62-mm (0,3-in) x 25 pistol
round, but the use of a Maxm-type
silencer arrangement makes this
round effective only at short ranges, To
make matters more complicated the
Chinese use this pistol round fltted
with a specral bullet known as the
TYpe P, which is slightly heavier than
the normal bullet and is thus slightly
more effective, As silenced weapons
go the \pe 64 has been tested to the
pornt where it seems to be effective
enough, but the time and trouble in-
volved in the design and production of
such a Special weapon and cartridge
seem wasteful to many Westem ex-
perts,
group. This magazine is wedge-
shaped in cross-section and contains
32 rounds. As one would expect with
Walther products, the overall standard
of manuJacture is excellent.
From the side both models present a
rather deep silhouette, This is because
the main mass of the breech block is
mounted over the barrel and gnrided
throughout rts backward and forward
travel on a gmrde rod, Normally the bolt
handle does not move with the breech
block, but ifrequired it can be latched
into the block in order to clear a stop-
page, There are all manner of small
detail points on these two weapons,
One is that when the stock is folded
forward the butt portion can be used as
a forward grip, Another is the rear
srght, which is normally fixed for use at
l00m (109 yards) using conventional
rear and fore sights. But for use in low
visibility conditions the upper portion
of the sight becomes an open rear
sight and is used in conjunction with
64
The Type 64 rs a mixhrre of various
design features mainly lifted from
other weapons. The basic overall de-
slgn and bolt action resemble those of
the Soviet PPS-43 of World War 11,
while the trigger mechanism is taken
from the Bren Gun, many of which
were used in China duringr and after
World War IL The folding stock also
comes from the Soviet PPS-43, while
the srlencer uses the well-established
principles introduced by Hiram Max-
im who was at one time as well known
for his silencer designs as he was for
his machine-gnrns. The barrel extends
along only part ofthe srlencer, and the
last part ofthe barrel is perforated by a
the top of the fore sight protector, Specification
There js a fire selector switch just be- MP.K
hlnd the trigger, allowing rapid and Ca.libre:9 mm (0,354 in)
easy selection of 'safe', single shot or Weight: loaded 3,425 kg (7,55 lb)
full automatic, Lengrth: with stock open 653 mm
The first Walther MP-Ks and MP-Ls (25,7 ln) and with stock folded 368 mm
were sold to the West German nalry r'l d 1O ir\
and to some German police forces, Lengthof barrel 171 mm (6,73 in)
Since then more have been sold to Muzzlevelocity:356 m (1,168 ft) per
Brazrl, Colombia, the Mexican narry second
and Venezuela, The types are no lon- Cyclic rate offire: 550 rpm
ger in production, but both are still Magazine: 32-round box
being offered for sale by Walther and
could be placed back in production Specification
wtthin a short time. Some accessories MP-I,
have been offered with these guns, At Calibre:9 mm (0,354 in)
one point the MP-K was offered with a Weisht:loaded3.625 kq (7,99 lb)
screw-on silencer, but this was Length: wrth stock open 737 mm (29 in)
apparently not lonq developed and and ruth stock folded 455 mm (17,9 in)
there appear to have been few takers, Lengthofbarrel 257 mm (10. 12 in)
All weapons have provision for s[ng Muzzle velocity: 396 m ( 1,299 ft) per
swivels and these are so arranged that second
the sling can be used to stabi[ze the Cyclic rate offire: 550 rpm
gnrn when firing bursts, Magazine:32-round box
fire
The Type 64 uses a selective from Vietnam and other such Far East
trigger mechanism derived from that orignns, and it is doubtful rf the T\pe 64
o{ the Bren gun and a bolt action was kept in production for very long or
taken from the Wpe 43 - the Cftrnese even if it was produced in any quantrty,
copy oI the Soviet PPS-43. It remains an enigrma,
Specification
series of holes; the propellant gases Type 64
exhaust through these and the muzzle Calibre:7.62 mm (0,3 in) x 25 Tlpe P
into a series of baffles that continue Weight: empty 3.4 kg (7 495 lb)
until the muzzle ofthe silencer proper, Lengrth: with stock extended 843 mm
This silencer also acts as a flash sup- (33. 19 in)
plessor, tengthofbarrel 244 mm (9.6 in)
The exact operational role of this Muzzle velocity: about 3 13 m ( 1,027 ft)
weapon with the ChiCom forces is not per second
known with exactitude. The few exam- Cyclic rate of fire:uncertain
ples seen in the West came mainly Magazine: 20- or 3O-round box
Designed specifically as a silenced'
weapon, the Type 64 is fittedwith a
Maxim-type suppressor and fires the
7.6 2 - mm x 2 5 pistol round. This
combination is only suited to covert
operations, being of doubtful value
rh suslainedacfrbn.
 CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Model 6l Skorpion
The Czech Model 6l Skorpion lies in
that small-arms no-man's-land where a
weapon that 1s neither a pistol or a true
sub-machine gun is described as a
'machine pistol': it is small enough to
carned and fired as a pistol, but it fires
fu1ly automatically when required, It
has the advantages and drsadvantages
of both types ofweapon and is perhaps
below par as both a pistol and a sub-
machine gmn, but it is now one of the
TheModel6l Skorpion
is a favouriteweapon of
the P ales tine Liber ation
Organi z ation, ifs smaJ/
size makingfor easy
conceahnent.
Modern Sub-Machine Gr:ns
makes it a formidable weapon at shofi
ranges, but this benefit is offset by tvrro
considerations. One is that using any
machine pistol on full automatrc makes
be the weapon almost impossible to aim
accurately: the muzzle forces catse
the muzzle to climb and judder to such
an extent that it is virtually impossible
to hold the weapon still for more than
an instant. The other consideration is
that the Skorpion uses magazines with
only 10- or 2O-round capacity, and on
automatrc either would soon be ex-
hausted, But while the Skorpion flres it
sprays bullets in an alarming swathe
and this makes it a formidable close-
quarter weapon,
The Skorpion operates on the blow-
back principle, Singie shots can be
selected, and aiming rs assisted by use
of the folding wire butt, The basic
Model 61 Skorpion fires the Amenca:
0,32-in (actual 7,65-mm) cartndge
making it the only Warsaw Pac:
weapon to use this round, but the Mod-
el 63 uses the 9-mm short (0.38-,:r,
round and the Model 68 the 9-m
(0.354-in) Parabellum A silenced ve:-
sion of the Model 6l rs available.
Apart from the Czech armed forces
the Skorpron has also been sold i:
some African nations, but us marn ur.-
pact has been in the hands of guemlla:
and 'freedom flghters'. The firepo,r,'e:
impact of the Skorpion rs considerable
at short ranges, which suits the le-
quirements of assassrnation and terror
squads. so the type is now muc:-
favoured by such groups, With ther. -:
has turned up in many parts of th=
world from Central America to the
Middle East.

most feared of all 'underground'

weapons, despite the fact that it was
orignnally intended to be a standard
sewice weapon for the Czech armed
forces.
The Skorpion was designed for use
by tank crews, signallers and other
personnel who have no normal need
for anything larger than a pistol. But
since a pistol is essentially a short-
range weapon, the introduction of a
fully automatrc feature provided this
small weapon wrth a considerable
short-range firepower potential, The
Skorpion resembles a pistol, though
the magazine is not in the butt but for-
ward of the trrgger assembly, and a
folding wrre butt is provided for aimed
fire. The overall appearance is short
and chunky, and the weapon is small
enough to be carried in a rather over-
sized belt holster. When fired on full
automatic the weapon has a cyclic rate
of about 840 rounds per minute, which

Above righ t : S tock tu lly
extended, the Type 6 I can shoot
with reasonable accuracy atup
to 200 m (220 yards). Ituses a
simple blowbac k oper ation, bu t
the empty case i! eiected
directly upwards.
Specification
Model6I Skorpion
Calibre:0.32 in (achral7.65 mm)
Weight: loaded 2 kq (4.4 lb)
Lengnh: with butt extended 5 13 mm
(20.2 in) and with butt folded 269 mm
(10.6 in)
tengrthof barrel: 112 mm (4,4 in)
Muzzlevelocity:317 m (1,040 ft) per
second
Cyclic rate offire: 840 rpm
Magazine: l0- or 2O-round box

POLAND

9-mm wz 63 (PM-63)
---: 3-mm wz 63 (wzor, or model) is
as the PM-63, and is one of
-i: llrrown
--:-:e weapons that falls into the categ-
::-1 :f machine pistol. Although only
.:r-;:-Jy larger than an orthodox pistol,
- := be fired fully automatic at a cyc-
' : r=:e of 600 rounds per minute, It was
-=-s--Jried by Piotr Wilniewicz, who led
n r:srgn team to produce a weapon for
-::se elements of the Polish forces
n:: -e unable to carry a conventional
T--,:pon during their combat duties,
I:.: -,'z 63 is thus used by Polish tank
:::rs siqnallers and other troops
r-::- as truck drivers.
..-e wz 63 is rather long for a con-
r
=---::ra1 prstol and is fitted wlth a butt
:-:-. :an be folded forward to [e under
:":-= :,arrel. When folded forward the
:- . :-ther Iies under the forward gnip,
:: :: cutt plate can be folded down to
::- .. forward grip, This forward grlp
a Although classed as a macftrne
. :s:entral to hold the weapon steady
:r ...::matic flre, for the wz 63 sulfers
i:,: --ne usual difficulty of rapid and
:::::-c muzzie movement mainly
:= *<:d by the cyclic rate of flre. Some
:. -:--s muzzle movement is compen-
;r:' by a simple fixture on the end of
the barrel which is little more than an
open trough angrled upwards at a shght
angle to push the barrel downwards,
In practice this devrce appears to be of
marginal value. Accurate single-shot
aiming is possible, but even when ls-
ing the butt any deliberate aim is hkely
to be disturbed by the bolt moving
forward as the trigger is pulled since,
like most other blowback-operated
weapons, the wz 63 operates from an
open bolt, However its effective range
using the stock extended into the
shoulder is stated to be 200m (219
yards); on automatic the range is much
less.
The wz 63 may be used with either a
25- or a'4O-round magazine, although
some references also mention a 15-
pktol, thewz 63 ismore complex
than the Skorpion and itwould
require a firm hand indeed to fire
9-mmx l8 cartridges onfull
automatic. I t is perhaps no accident
that the handbook only shows it
deployed for two-ftanded use.
9-mmwz 63 (PM-63) (continued)
round magazine, It rs normally issued
together with a special holster and a
pouch holding three maqaztnes and a
cleamng kit, A sling may also be sup-
plied,
The round fired by the wz 63 is the
9-mm (0,354-in) x 18 Makarov car-
tridge, which differs in several ways
from the usual 9-mm (0.354-in) x 19
Parabellum round, It provides the wz
63 with a constderable slriking capa-
USA
= Ingram Model I0
There have been few weapons in re-
cent years that have 'enjoyed' the
attentions of the Press and Holl1'wood
to such an extent as that lavished on the
Ingnam sub-machine gn-rns, Gordon B.
Ingrram had designed a whole string of
sub-machine guns before he pro-
duced his IngrramModel I0, whichwas
originally intended to be used with the
Sionics Company suppressor. First
produced during the mid- 1960s, the lit-
tle Ingnam Model 1O soon attracted a
great deal of public attention because
of its rate of fire, supposedly high
enough to 'saw a body in half , coupled
with the hiqhly efficient sound sup-
pressor, Hollywood and television
fllms added their dramatic commen-
taries and the Ingram Model 10 soon
became as wrdely known as the old
Thompson sub-machine gmns of the
1920s.
r.Yiiis"+r
\::,itFir
.5 14
bility at short combat ranges but as
stated before the ability of anY
machine pistol to remain on taretet for
more than a fleeting second is unlikely,
Instead the wz 63 produces a 'spray
effect which can be of considerable
value in combat, but even this effect is
reduced by the maqazine capacity.
The wz 63 is still used by the Polish
troops for which it was designed, and
the type is now extensively used bY
The Ingram Model I I (top) is
charnbered for 9-mm S hort (.380
ACP), while the Model I 0 (below),
fittedwith a suppressor, can be
chambered for either 9-mm
Parabellum or .45 ACP. Both aie
relativelywell halanced due to the
bolt enveloping the breech.
The Ingrram Model 10 is indeed a
remarkable little weapon, It is con-
structed from sheet metal but manu-
factured to a very high standard and
extremely robust, This has to be, for it
fires at a cyclic rate of over 1,000
rounds per mlnute, yet control of the
weapon is still relatively easy thanks to
the good balance imparted by the cen-
trally-placed pistol group through
which the box magazine is inserted.
Most versions have a folding metal butt
Its efficient suppressormakes lfie
I ngram a handy weapon for the
SpecialForces. By reducing the
escaping gas to subsonic speed and
eliminatingflash, the position of the
firer can remain a mystery to the
target, until hopefully it is too late.
, "n
. ,
Polish police and security units, Out-
side Poland the wz 63 appears to be
little used, though numbers of these
weapons have turned up in the Middle
East and have been observed by
several ofthe organizations involved in
the civil war in Lebanon,
Specification
wz63
Calibre:9 mm (0,354 in) Makarov
but this may be removed, and many
weapons not fltted with the long tubu-
lar suppressor use a forward webbrng
hand-strap as a rudimentary foregrrip,
The muzzle on most models is
threaded to accommodate the sup-
pressor, and when fitted this is co-
vered with a heat-resistant canvas or
plastic webbrng to allow it to be used
as a forward qrip, The cocking handle
is on top ofthe slab-sided receiver and
when turned through 90" acts as a safe-
ty lock, As this handle is slotted for
sighting pL[poses the flrer can soon
notice if this safety is applied, and
there is a normal triqgter safety as well,
The Model l0 may be encountered
chambered for either the well-known
11,43-mm (0.45-in) cartndge or the
mote usual 9-mm (0.354-in) Parabel-
lum, The latter round may also be used
on the smaller Model l l which is nor-
mally chambered tor Ihe less powerful
9-mm Short (,380 ACP). In all these
calibres the Ingram is a dreadfully
efflcient weapon and not surprisingly it
has been sold widely to customers
ranging from paramilitary forces to
bodyguard and securily agencies.
Military sales on any large scale have
been few but several nations have ac-
quired numbers for 'testrng and eva-
luation', The British SAS is known to
have obtained a small quantity for test-
Weight: with empty 32-round
magazrne LB kg(3.97 lb)
Length: with stock retracted 333 mm
(13, I in)
Lengrth of barrel: 152 mm (6 ln)
Muzlevelocity: 323 m (1,060 ft) per
second
Cyclicrate of fire:600 rpm
Magazine: 25- or 40-round boxi also
references to l5-round box
ing. Sales have not been encouraged
by the fact that the ownership and
manufacturinq rights have changed
hands several times, but both the Mod-
el 10 and Model 11 are now back in
production and sellinq well. In order to
keep sales rolling several variants
have been made, Versions firing sinq-
le-shot only and without the folding
butt are available, and at one point a
long-barrelled version was produced,
though only in limited numbers as the
type did not find a ready market,
In the meantime Ingrams will be
found in countries as diverse as Yugo-
slavra, Israel and Argentina, Many
have been sold to the Central and
South American nations.
Specification
Model I0 (0.45-in model)
Calibre: 11.43 mm (0,45 in)
Weight: loaded with 3O-round
magazine 3.818 kq (B a b)
Lengrth: wrth stock extended 548 mm
(21,575 in) and with stock folded
269 mm (10.59 in)
tengthof barrel: 146 mm (5,75 in)
Lengthof suppressor: 29I mm
( 1 1.46 in)
Muzzlevelocity:280 m (918 ft) per
second
Cyclic rate offire: 1, 145 rpm
Magazine: 3O-round box

sl 9-mm UZI
-lnce lsrael had fought its War of Inde-
-rendence in I94B the new nation had
s:me breathinq space in which to arm
-:self for any future conflict, Sub-
::rachine quns were high on the list of
cnorities, for the new Israeli army was
::en equipped with all manner of old
-r;eapons varying from Sten gnins to
Szech weapons. The Czech weapons
::uacted the close attention of one
-'eutenant Uziel Gail, for they had the
:dvantagTe that therr breech blocks or
bolts were 'wrapped around' the bar-
:el, so placing the mass of the bolt well
::rward around the barrel on flring and
atlowing a short weapon to have a re-
iatively long barrel, The Czech
-reapons concerned were of the vz 23
-.enes, and wing these Gail was able to
:esign and develop his own design
-rat was more suitable to the manufac-
Right: The IIZI (with wooden stock)
and the Mini-UZI. The Mini-UZI is iust
36-cm(14-in) longwith its stock
folded, making for easy concealment
under ordinary clothing.TheUZI is a
design of great simplicity and is
[amous for reliability in awkward
conditions.
Below: This Israelicarries the UZI
frtted with metal folding s tock' I n
addition to a griP safetY, the UZI
features a ratchet on the cocking
handle to prevent accidental firingif
the useiS lrand slips off the handle
after the breech block has Passed
fuhindaround.
turingr methods then available in re-
latively undeveloped Israel, He came
up with a weapon that is now universal-
Iy known as the UZI after its designer,
The UZI is made largely from simPle
pressings held tn place by spot welds
or other weldrng, The main bodY is
made from a single sheet of heavY
gauge sheet steel with Qlrooves press-
ed into the sides to take any dLtst, dirt
or sand that might get into the works
This simple feature makes the UZI cap-
able of operation under even the most
arduous conditions, a fact that has
been proved on many occasions. The
overall cross-section of the main body
is rectangnrlar wtth the barrel secured
to the body by a large nut just behind
the muzzle. The trigger qgoup is situ-
ated centrally. and the box magazine is
lnserted through the pistol grip, which
ISRAEL
E
1tr1 9-mm Mini-UZI
E
The Mini-UZI has been develoPed bY
Israel Military Industries from the full-
scale UZI and dtffers ftom the origdnal
only in dimensions and weights. A few
modifications have been introduced to
the basic desigm, but these are onlY
superf,cial while the operatinq system
of the origrinal has been retatned un-
changed.
The Mlni-UZI has been develoPed
as a weapon surtable for concealment
by police and security personnel This
prompted an overall decrease in
dimensrons, and to improve this con-
cealment a smaller 20-round magazine
has been introduced, although the
Mim-UZI can still use the existing 25-
and 32-round maQlazines if required
The UZI parentage is immedlatelY
apparent but one chanqe that can be
nbied rs that the normal folding metal
butt has been replaced bY a single-
strut butt stock that folds along the
right-hand side of the bodY When
folded the butt Plate acts as
rudimentary foregrip. but the normal
foieerip is a plastic section just for-
ward of the triqger group.
To date the Mini-UZI has been mar-
keted as suitable for police and secur-
Modern Sub-Machine Guns
makes reloading very easy in the dark
lor 'hand will naturally find hand'. The
normal combat magazine holds 32
rounds, but a common practice ts to
join two magazines together using a
cross-over clip or even tape to allow
rapid changrnq, A srlp safety is in-
corporated into the pistol grip.
The UZI ts now vlrtually one of the
symbols of Israeli military prowess, but
Israel is not the only natton to use the
type, The West Germans also use the
UZi, which they know as the MP2; this
model was produced under licence by
FN in Belgium, Numerous other na-
tions also use the UZL IT is part of
legend that the Presrdent ofthe United
States is always accompanied bY
bodygnrards carrying UZIs in specially
fitted brief cases, and manY other
secunty agencres and police forces
ity agencies but it is bound to attract
the attentions of various military orqa-
hrzations for special missicjns. It would
make an ideal commando-tYPe
weapon where light weight is re-
quired, and it must be stressed that
although the Mini-UZIts a scaled-down
version of the original it still uses the
potent 9-mm (0.354-in) x 19 Parabel-
lum round, As the weapon is lighter
than the full-size version its breech
block is lighter too, and this provides a
cyclic rate of flre of 950 rounds Per
minute, which is much higher than on
the onginai.
The Mini-UZI is being marketed ln
the United States carried tn a special-
ly-fitted brief case together with spare
magazines and a small cleaning and
spares kit, It has already been suet-
qested that some form of silencer
could be f,tted to the muzzle.
There are also some UZIs other than
the standard version and the MinrUZL
a One is the semi-automatrc Carbine UZI
which has been produced to conform
wrth the legal requirements of some
American states that requtre non-
automatrc weapons only to be held by
their inhabitants, In order to prevent
use the UZL
The UZI may be encountered -,'i-:
either a sturdy fixed wooden butt si:.k
or a metal stock that can be icldei
forward under the main body wrth re
butt plate still available to asss: -:.
steddying automatic flre. The UZIca:-
be used to flre single-shol by use o: :
change lever just above the pistol buli
Specification
UZI (with wooden stock)
Calibre:9 mm (0,354 ln) Parabellum
Weight: loaded with 32-romd
magazine 4. I kq (9 lb)
Lengrth:650 mm (25,59 in)
tenqth ofbarrel 260 mm (10.24 Ln)
Muzzle velocity: 400 m ( 1,312 ft) Per
second
Cyclic rate offire: 600 rPm
Magazine: 25- or 3Z-round box
the rapid conversion of semi-automaic
versions of automatic weapons thel,'
call for such semi-automatic verslo:-r
to have barrels at least 406 mm (16 lrl
lonq. Thus the standard UZI maY l:e
see-n with a long barrel protrudll
from the body and this denotes that tle
weapon can be fired sinqle-shot orrl'-
Another UZI variant that has only le-
cently been introduced is the UZI pis-
tol, Although really outside the sccpe
oi this survey tt is still recogmizable ;'
an UZI. It can be fired single-shot o:-v-
and there is no form of butt stock
Specification
uzr
Calibre:9 mm (0.354 in) Parabeli':r-
Weight: loaded with 2O-round
magazine 3, 1 1 kg (6.85 ]b)
Length: with stock extended 6Ol r-:--
(23,62 rn) andwithstock folded
360 mm (14. 17 in)
Lenqthof barrel: 197 mm (7.75 -:-
Muzilevelocity:352m(1 15 il :e:
second
Cyclic rate offire: 950 rPm
Magazine: 20-. 25- or 32-rou:: b': r
TheULlinAction
The UZI has proved to be one of the most
successful of all the post-war sub-
machine gun designs, and it has shown
its combatworth on many occasions. It
will remain in use for many years to
come and is still in production today.
The UZI sub-machine gun was conceived at a
time when the new state of Israel had only just
come into being. Almost as soon as lsrael de-
clared itself to be a state it was involved in a
state of war that continues lo the present day, In
1948 the neighbouring Arab nations attempted
to crush Israel but failed, mainly as a result of
the Israelis' determination to exist as a nation,
and when the United Nations were at ]ast able
to impose a ceasefire the Israelis had estab-
lished themselves by the srmple process of
defeating every one of their Arab foes,
All through the fighting of 1948 and 1949 the
newly-formed lsraell army was armed with a
hotchpotch of weapons, Sub-machine gnrns in-
cluded old ex-German weapons and numbers
of Sten gmns, the latter being the usual weapon
of the front-line troops, The Stens worked but
were not regarded as being particularly reli-
able, and a replacement was thus sought, For
supply safety it was consrdered suitable for the
replacement to be manufactured localiy, but at
that time manufacturing facilities in Israel were
few so the design had to be easy to make in
quantity.
Several deslgns were put forward at the
time. Most of them were 'paper' designs, but
that of Lieutenant Uziel Gail was chosen, He
had formed his design after careful examina-
tion of some Czech designs, notably the vzor
(model) 23,24,25 and 26. These models were
all basicaliy the same, differing only in having a
fixed or folding butt or the calibre used, but
they all had the same baslc mechanlsm and
design feature: the use of a breech block, or
bolt, that extended forward around the barrel.
This had two main attractions: that at the lnstant
offiring the mass of the bolt was well f,crward to
enswe a good 'lock', and that as the bott ex-
tended forward the barrel could be placed
farther to the rear of the receiver or body to
allow a short and handy weapon, Gail had no
doubt obtained his study examples from the
fighting dunng the War of Independence, and
as at one polnt Czechoslovakia was happy to
provide weapons to the new state, it is posslble
that the weapons came via a direct route. In any
case Gail adopted the \nnap-around' bolt to so
pronounced a degree that his design was very
much shorter than any contemporary equiva-
lent. Gail also adopted the method of inserting
the magazine through the pistol gnip which not
only provided a good balance for the weapon
but it also made rapid insertion of a magazine
Seen ftere rh So uth African service, the UZI is one of
the most widely used sub-machine guns in the
world. With stock extended and in careful hands,
the UZI will shoot with reasonable accuracy up to
200 m (220 yards), although it gained its reputation
atmuch closer ranges.
easy using the prrncrple that 'hand finds hand',
The folding metal butt was also taken from the
Czech design.
But Gail was no mere plagiarist. He intro-
duced his own ideas, not the ieast of which was
ease of manufactwe, The Sten gun and the
German MP 38 of World War II had demons-
trated that sub-machine gmns could be manu-
factured easily using simple metal stampings
and vtrtually no machining, and Gail simply
took this method one stage further: almost the
entire body of his deslgtn was made lrom a
single sheet steel stamping that was then bent
into shape to form a robust body. But Gail went
one better. He was aware that much of the
terrain over which the resultant weapon was to
be used was dusty and arduous to a degree.
Any weapon would have to operate wlth the
virtual certainty that dust, dirt and sand would
get into the works, so Gail designed two
grooves rnto the initial stamping that could
gather up all the debris rnside the body and
keep it out of the way. Thus the bolt could
operate without the friction caused by sandand
drrt, and rndeed Gail's design can keep work-
ing when many other weapons have seized
solid.
Gail's desrgn was eagerly adopted and
placed into production, initially in a series of
small machine shops but eventually using the
production facilitles of the state-owned Israel
Military Industnes. By 1953 the weapon was in
servlce, and in deference to its designer was
named the UZL Gail himself went on to a dis-
trnguished military career and retired as a
lieutenant colonel but his name is still a virtual
military fixture.
Inits earlyyears, theyoung Israeli nationwas
unable torelyonoutside help andthe needfor an
indigenous arms industry was paramount. Uziel
Gail's UZI design was ideal: simple to
manufacture, it entered sewice in 1953.
 Modern Sub-Machine Guns

,:.= JZI had its first major bout oi conflict in

'.-.=--
lands during the Suez War of 1956 Be-
. - r: -:-en it had been used more on the border
:,- ::-s and clashes that marked the period, so
-:.-. a',t ihe trme rt was used on a large scale
:--.: lf the bugs inherent in any new weapon r,,;''-F
::s-;r had been eiiminated. The troops hked
-:.= --ZL it was liQrht, handy, and easy to aim and a,ir-
.,&!n:
:: _:erate, Versions with solid wooden butts
''.'=:e produced, but the type most favoured by
:-: special forces such as the paratroops was
,:-: 3ne wlth the folding metal butt, Only the
:::cial forces used the UZI as a standard
''.'=apon, The normal rnfantry and other units
-:::inued to use the standard service rifle of
:,: day but the UZI was and still is widely
--ried by second-line troops, It is small and
-;it enough to be carried without any great
:-:cnvenlence, and can be folded away into
- ,_.' small stowage space or even ln a desk -i
lt-1',ver.

l:ght: TwoUZl-armed Israelis de-busfrom anM3

:aif track covered by the .30 calibre Brorynings of
:.eir comrades. The UZI first saw major action in
::.e I 956 Arab-lsraeli conflict in the hands of the
. s:aeli airborne fiorces.

3eiow: The aftermath of another Arab incursion

-:.:o Israel: the survivors of a PLO unit are driven
zt;ay to captivity"Note the magazines clipped
:igether on theUZI;theone outof the gunis empty.
',ri
nen the second magazine is full it projects under
:.e barrel.
The UZI in Action
Thrs latter point is important, for rn Israel any
member of the armed services is likeiy to be
called rnto action at almost any time. Despite
Israel's stringent and often irksome security
precautions, terrorists are still able to strrke at
centres of population at any time. Consequent-
ly even off-duty personnel frequently carry
their personal weapons with them at all times,
and even desk-bound personnel keep therr
weapons close at hand, In many cases this
means the UZI, and it rs not amuncommon sight
in any Israeli lown or crty io see groups of
off-duty personnel enjoying themselves in a
srdewalk cafe with UZIs nonchalantly slung
from their chairs, Even the women personnel of
the Israeli forces have to follow this course of
actron and the UZI rs a common sighL in shops
and streets all over Israel,
Thus the UZI is now a virtual military badge
in Israel, and it may be seen emblazoned on
belt buckles and even stamped on T-shirts. It
would be safe to say that vrrtually every Israeli
citrzen is fully famihar with lts workings and
knows how to use it properly, Some of this
knowledge has no doubt been learned the
hard way in battle, for the UZi has been used in
every Israeli-Arab conflict since i956 and rn
many of the smaller campaigns that have
marked the llfe of Israel, In nearly every news-
reel or front-page photograph of Israeli sol-
diers in action an UZI may be discerned some-
where in the frame,
Typical of the use of the UZI in the hands of
the Israeli special forces was the taking of
Beauljrrt Castle on the night of 7 June 1982,
during the opening stages of the Lebanese
The UZI remains a favourite weapon of the I sraeli
special forces, who used it to great effect during
the storming of BeaufortCastle on the night of 7
J une I 9 8 2. Changing magazines rh fft e darkis
made easier by having the magazine housed in the
pistolgirip.
War. Beaufort Castle is situated;ust to the north
of the Litani river inside Lebanese territory, but
the Israelis had already advanced to the Litani
in what at fust appeared to be an anti-PLO
campaign. To advance any farther north past
the Litanl Beaufort Castle had to be taken, for
this old crusader frrrtress is iocated in a com-
manding positlon across any advance route to
the north.
Needless to say the PLO was as aware olthe
importance of Beaufort Castle as the Israelis,
Despite the age of the fortress the Palestinians
had further improved the old fortifications and
had manned not only the walls of the fort but the
surrounding area, Inside the fortress walls the
old underground areas had been further im-
proved and were rn use as stores and bomb-
proof shelters. Not surprisingly the PLO consi-
dered the fortress to be virtually impregnable.
It is set on a hiqh and almost inaccesslble prom-
entory, and the PI,O garrison was ready for an
attack. It seemeQ as though the only way to take
the positlon was by the time-honoured process
of siege and a set-piece attack,
The Israelis thought otherwise, They had to
take Beaufort Castle quickly in order to press
on with advance to Beirut. They decided on a
coup de main to be carrled out by members of
therr special forces, who approached the cas-
tle from the area of the Aqiya Bridge over the
deep gorge of the Litani river. The capture of
thls bridge was itself a major military achieve-
ment for it was wired ior demolition and was
captured before the charges could be fired, As
the bulk of the Israeli central sector forces
moved norih one group moved in their half-
tracks and Jeeps towards the castle as the
evening of 6 June moved towards darkness. In
the failing ligrht they simply drove and fired
their way through any PLO positions they en-
countered and rapidly came to under the walls
of the fortress itself. Unfortunately it was not
possible to rush the only track leading to the
gates, so the steep walls of the point on whlch
the castle stands had first to be scaled before
even the walls could be reached, This had to
be done by the oid way with grappling irons,
climbinq skills and ropes. Under these combat
condltions the UZI proved invaluabie, It was
easy to sling out of the way when climbing yet
easy to get into action when required. In action
its hlqh fire rate was devastating at close
ranqes, and in the dark there was often no time
to take deliberate aim. Thus the short UZI came
into lts own, 1br the Israelis could get their
weapons on target much iaster than their oppo-
nents armed with AK-47s.
Hadhe not been close enough to be tackled
physically, there can be little doubt that Hinkley's
attempt to kill President Reagan would have
ended abruptly in a hail of 9-mm fire from the
Presiden tial gni ards' U Zl s.
 Needless to say the PLO did not stand back
-nd let the Israelis take the castle unopposed
-hey fought back with a feroclty that surpnsed
:e Israelis, and casualtles were heavy on both
s,des. From time to time the Israelis used mor-
.ars to fire illumination flares, to allow them to
see where they were and where they were
3cing, but much of the flghting was at close
luarters and at times (such as when they were
s:ill climbing their ropes) the Israeli troops'
:asualties were heavy. Some of the Israells had
:: hang onto their ropes with one hand and fire
:eir UZIs with the other. Some covering flre
:ame from heavy machine-gnrns mounted on
-:ie halftracks far below, but the assault lorce
.-ad to supply most of its own covering fire
Once thb lsraelis were over the walls the
:.and{o-hand fiqhting continued until just alter
when the Israelis took control of the
-rCnight,
::rtreis. Even then isolated bands of PLO
.:r1 important role fulfitled by the sub-machine.gun
:.stha[ of vehic]e crew personal armament. In the
:cnfined space of a tank there is obviously no room
::r a full-size rifle. Here, the crew of a Bundeswehr
eo pard pose with their folding'stock UZI s'
-
fighters continued to fight, some to the last,
though the castle was under Israeli control As
day broke the Israeli troops were able to
appreciate fu1ly the importance oi the position
thev had taken. They were able to observe a
wrde stretch of terrain that stretched from the
Mediterranean far to the west, over the coastal
ptain and up into the mountains of the interior'
They could see the mechanized Israeli col-
umns making their way north without risk of a
powerful PLO stronqhold in thelr rear'
Beaufort Castle was an action in which the
UZI showed to its best advantage, In any close-
quarter combat a short and handy weapon ltke
the UZI provrdes any combatant with a tactical
advantage, and when that advantage is allied to
a determrnation to win such as that displayed
bv the Israeli soldiers who stormed the castle
the result was inevitably a mtnor mrlitary cias-
src,
Rig ht : H is U Z I by his side, a gu nner of,N o. 4 B attery,
305th Panzer ArtiL\ery, pauses by an M 1 I 3
Armoured PersonnelCarrier. ?he extensjve use
made of the IIZI byWestGerman forces is a great
tribute to the design.
 9-mm Beretta Model I2s
Dwing World War II the Beretta sub-
machine guns were among the most
highly-prized of al1 war trophies, and
many remained for many years after
the war in service with both military
and paramilitary formations. The last of
the \ryar{ime' Beretta vadants was pro-
duced in 1949, and in 1958 an entirely
new Beretta design was introduced.
This owed nothing to previous desigrns
and for the first time Beretta adopted
the tubular receiver and stamped
component construction that had for
Iong been employed by many other
manu-facturers, The new design was
the Beretta Model 12, but although it
Iooked simple it was still a Beretta pro-
duct, as was reveaied by the overall
high standard of fimsh and by its quaii-
ty manufacture.
The Model 12 had an orthodox con-
struction down to the 'wrap-around'
bolt that was by then commonplace.
This allowed rt to be a short and handy
weapon that as usual could be fitted
with either a folding metal stock or a
fixed wooden stock,
The Model 12 was sold extensively
The men of the I talian Parachute
Brigade are mainly equipped with
the BM59 rifle, but the Beretta 125 is
better suited for close-range work.
The I 2S is designed to operate in
harsh environments, h aving grooves
along thesides of the receiverwhich
catch any debrk entering the
weapon.
to such nations as Libya and Saudi Ara-
bia, but only in small numbers to the
Italian armed forces, who purchased
the type for use only by special units.
However, Beretta was able to negtoti-
ate licence production of the Model 12
rn Indonesia and Brazil for local sales
and export,
Beretta then decided to develop the
basic design one staqe further and
produced the Model i2S, This is now
the cwrent Beretta sub-machine gnrn
and production of the Model 12 has
now ceased, Externally the Model 12S
looks very like the Model 12 but there
are some detarl drfferences, One is the
epoxy-resin finish, making the metal
resistant to corrosion and wear, The
flre selector mechanism on the Model
12 was ofthe 'push through' type, oper-
ated by pushing a button from either
side of the receiver just over the pistol
grip, but the Type 12S has a conven-
tional single{ever mechanism wrth a
safety that locks both the trigcrer and
the grrip safety, The folding butt, when
fitted, now has a more positive lock for
both the open and the closed positions,
and Some changres have been made to
the sights. One laudable feature that
has been carried over from the origin-
al Model 12 is the retentron of the A dramatic breakfrom pre-war toform themagazine housing and
raised grooves that run aiong each Beretta designs, the Model l2 and receiver, bu t retain the eleg ant
side of the tubular receiver. These 125 use heavy sheet metal stampings simplicity associated with Beretta.
gEooves act as catchers for any dirt or
debris that flnd their way into the in- purchased by the Itahan armed forces being offered by FN of Herstal, Bel-
terior, and enable the Model 12S to in small numbers, and more were sold g[um, as part of its small arms range,
operate under really muddy and to Tunisia. Once again Beretta has Incidentally, the Modei 12 is one of the
arduous conditions, been able to negotiate licence pro- favoured weapons of 'Carlos', the inter-
To date the Model 12S has been duction and the Model l2S is now natlonal teronst,
The I 2S can be distingakhed from
the earlier Model I 2 by the single
lever fire selector and safety. The
white'S' is for safe, the red'I' for semi
automatic and the'R' for fuII
automatic.
Specification
Model I2S (metal stockversion)
Calibre:9 mm (0,354 in) Parabellum
Weight: loaded with 32-round
magazine 3,81 kq (8,4 lb)
lengrth: with stock extended 660 mm
(26 in) and with stock folded 4lB mm
(16,45 in)
Lengrthof barrel 200 mm (7,87 in)
Muzzle velocity: 38 I m (1,250 ft) per
second
Cyclic rate offire: 5OO-550 rpm
Magazine: 20-, 32- or 4O-round box
Right: Although widely exported, the
Model 12 isonlyrssued loSpecia/
Troops of the ltalian army, the rest
having to content themselves with
theMAB 38/49.TheModel 12 is avery
sleady weapon with remarkably low
muzzle climb while tiring in full
automatic.
Armed Forces of the World

Rogal NcwgPar3
Fleet Air Arm
Known as the Naval Air Command to the Admiralty,
the Fleet AirArm is primarily used as an extension of
warships' weapon and sensor systems to engage
and identify targets over the horizon. ln 1984 the
service had the following units in commission'

Squadron Aircraft Primary role

800 Sea Hanier FRS.Mk 1 combat air
defence
301 Sea Harrier FRS.Mk 1 combat air
defence
399 Sea Harrier FRS.Mk 1 operational
andT.Mk4N training
31 0 Sea King HAS N;lk 5 ASWtraining
314 Sea King HAS Mk 5 ASW
a20 Sea King HAS.MkS ASW
i24 Sea King HAS.Mk 5 ASW
326 Sea King HA$.Mk 5 ASW lbr iree-'all and retarded HE bombs, 272-kg (600-lb) Standard shipborne ASW and anti- shipping
3'9 Sea King HAS.Mk 24 ASW BL755 clrster bombs, 51-mm (2.in) rocket pods and helicopter for smaller Royal Navy vessels, ffi e
:r9 Sea King AEW airborne early in iire verv neaT;Jture the sea-skimming Sea Eagle Westland Lynx has recently been equipped with
warning ant -sn p n'issile. They are credited with a tactical British Aerospace Sea S/<ua m issiles, which were
combat-tested under extremely difficult -
:-15 Wessex HU.Mk 5 aircommando nicrear con b del very capability, for which they conditions during the South Atlantic campaigm.
assault apparently carry a single 1/60-kiloton variable-yield
:jO Sea King F:C.Mk 4 aircommando 'Green Par:ct' ;r'ee-fall bomb. The Sea Harriers can charge warhead it carries is much more effective
assault also be usec n a raoid response ASW role delivering against the Soviet submarine hull than the blast type
::3 r'/asp HAli:..ltik'1 training/ASW' a soncb.lov {ieid to a predetermined datum point. fitted to the Mk 46. The nuclear depth bomb, nick-
hydrographic Tne pr'mary ASW platform is now the Sea King named 'Lulu', is a weapon that is used well away
survey HAS.Mk 5 wtn the Marconi LAPADS (lightweight from f riendly ships and submarines so that they are
:-5 Lynx HAS.Mk2/3 anti-surface acoustic processing and display system) sonobuoy not damaged, and is the only nuclear ASW weapon
warfareiASW processing equipment and mini-Jezebel sono- the Royal Navy possesses. The other helicoptei
Lynx HAS.Mk2/3 aircrew training buoys. A n'agneiic anomaly detector is also being types which can carry the 'Lulu' are the Sea King
Gazelle HT.Mk 2 basic training fitted together with the new Sea Searcher ASW HAS,Mk 2, the shlp's flight Wasp HAS.Mk '1 and the
Sea King HAS.Mk 5 aircrewtraining srface target radar. The active dunking sonar capa- ship's f light Lynx HAS.Mk 2i3. The Lynx can alterna-
Wessex HU.Mk 5/ aircrew training bilrty has been retained from the HAS.Mk 2 air- tively carry either two homing torpedoes or Mk 1"
Sea King HC.Mk4 f rames which constitute the majority of the Sea King depth charges or (for its primary anti-surface role
Jetstream T.Mk 2 observer training HAS.Mk 5 fleet. The armament can either be four two or four Sea Skua semi-active homing anti-sh p
Wessex HU.Mk5 SAR/training Mk 46 or Stingray homing torpedoes, or four Mk 1 1 missiles, whilst the Wasp can carry two Mk 44 or
Wessex HU.Mk5 SAR/fleet HE depth charges or, like its American counterpart, Mk 46 torpedoes or Mk 11 depth charges or tw,c
requirements one 857 S-kiloton low-y:s16 nuclear depth bomb. wire-guided AS,'l 2 missiles.
:::DU HunterT.MkBC, fleet The elderly Mk 46 has a range of 10.9 km (6.8 miles) The Commando helicopters usually carry 7 62-
HunterGA.Mk 1 1, requirements and a speed of 45 kts at 15.25 m (50 ft), but these mm (0.3-in) machine guns and 51-mm (2-in) rockets
Canberra T.Mk 22, figures are reduced to 5.45 km (3.4 miles) and for ground suppression of assault zones. ln this the,-
CanberraTT.Mk 18, 40 kts at 457 m \1,500 ft) depth because of the will probably be backed by machine-gun, rocket a.r
Canberra T.Mk 4 propellant used. The Mk 46 uses a spiral search TOW fire from Royal Marine helicopters plus tne
pattern and can acquire targets at ranges up to weapons of any RAF aircraft available. The total lac<
'1
.45 km (0 9 miles) on its active/passive homing of airborne early warning aircraft so keenly felt in tne
--e Sea Harrier squadrons have secondary roles system. lts replacement is the Stingray lightweight Falklands has now been resolved by the reactivatio"
:: :roto and radar reconnaissance, ground attack torpedo, which is a 'smart'weapon having a speed of No. 849 Squadron with Sea King AEW helicor
l-: s:rface strike against enemy surface craft. For of 45 kts, a range of 7 km (4.35 miles) and a diving ters. However, the reasons why such a combinaiic^
--. : =to-surface role they can carry 454-kg (1 000- depth of 800 m (2,625 ft). Apparently the directed- was rejected in the late 1960s to replace that squac-
ron's Fairey Gannets still hold today and a new AEi\
platform must be found. The carriers will embar< a
flight of three Sea King AEWs as a normal part c=
their carrier air group.
For the future. the major re-equipment of the Sea
King ASW squadrons will start in the late 1980s witr
the introduction of the EH 1 01 , whilst the Sea Harrier
.?: squadrons will receive both new-build and com-
pletely refurbished aircraft carrying a new airborne
intercept radar suitable for use with the AIM-l20
radar-guided missile that will supplement the infra-
red AIM-9L Sidewinder it uses at the moment as its
primary air-to-air weapon.

The Westland Sea King in its HAS.M k 5 torm is the

fleet's primary ASW platform, and since the harsh
lessons of the Falklands it has also been equippd
with a modified Searchwater radar to prouide a
Iimited degrree of airborne early warning (AEW).