Submachine gun yesterday, today, tomorrow.
So, we made a full turn in time, tracing the entire evolution of submachine guns. Their story began as a story of a very specific weapon for "trench warfare!" It continued in the role of "police weapons", after which they became the second most important weapon of the Second World War, after the rifle. Then the division into subspecies and various special samples began again, but what was the result? As a result, we have what the police need them for police operations, they need them for counter-terrorist operations in cities, they are needed by security units that guard all sorts of VIPs and seem to be sometimes required … in the army. Where, in principle, it is quite possible to do without them, as they did, for example, in the USSR.
New submachine gun for the US Army
Still, the good old traditions do not leave the arena so easily. Well, the military would like to have, in addition to automatic rifles, also a reliable and light submachine gun. And not some military in general, but the US Army, which did well without them for many decades in general! It is reported, for example, that the winner in the tender for the best compact submachine gun, announced by the US government, unexpectedly won the Swiss development "Brugger and Tome" APC9. The VO already had material about the new submachine gun of this company (see https://topwar.ru/157404-superskorostrelnyj-pistolet-pulemet-dlja-specnaza-mp9.html). But there it was about the MP-9 sample, while in this case another model won - namely, the "Brugger and Tome" APC9 ("Advanced Police Carbine-9"): a submachine gun, the first sample appeared back in 2011, but which only recently attracted the attention of American military specialists. It can use both standard "Luger" cartridges 9 × 19 mm, and traditional for the US Army.45 ACP cartridges. The very name of the tender Sub Compact Weapon ("Subcompact weapon") suggests that the military wanted to get a light and compact sample of a submachine gun, moreover, such that standard magazines for 30 rounds would fit it, and magazines for 15 could also be installed. 20 and 25 rounds. And the Swiss have just created the right software for them. Moreover, the stores for it are used from translucent plastic, so that the ammunition consumption would be immediately visible. The caring Swiss also promised to supply the Pentagon with all the spare parts necessary for these PPs and … add accessories to them.
APC9 is offered on the market in several variants at once. The first of them, so to speak, has a "main" barrel length of 175 mm, then comes the "assault version" with an adjustable folding stock and a "carbine version" with a barrel length of 406 mm (16 inches), designed specifically for the US civilian market. The $ 2.6 million contract signed with the Pentagon includes an initial order of 350 submachine guns, plus an additional order for 1,000 units, with all required accessories and spare parts included.
Getting to know the manufacturer …
The headquarters of B & T A. G. is located in Thun, a city just a few kilometers from the Swiss capital of Bern, and was founded in 1991 to produce silencers and mufflers for civilian weapons that are sold in Switzerland, where their purchase and ownership is absolutely legal. Thus, the company quickly mastered the methods and the most modern technologies for working with aluminum alloys and polymers and soon released its own line of tactical accessories and firearms, and then the BT96 semi-automatic carbine - a licensed version of the German MP5 - or the Heckler MP9 submachine gun and Hawk, and the TP9 semi-automatic pistol. This was followed by the SPR series pistols and the GL-06 40-mm single-shot grenade launcher. A couple of years ago, the company first introduced the "Advanced Police Carbine" system, which is now being produced and distributed worldwide for both civilians and professional military personnel.
Design features or "corporate signature"
The design feature of the new submachine gun is the upper part of the receiver, which is made of extruded aircraft grade 7075 T6 aluminum, and the lower part is made of high-strength polymer material. APC9 length is 385 mm, weight (with a standard barrel length of 175 mm) - 2, 7 kg. The rate of fire in different sources is indicated differently: from 800 to 1080 rounds per minute. In any case (especially in the latter!) It is high enough to stuff any available target within a direct shot with lead in the shortest period of time.
According to the terms of the contract, the new submachine gun for the US Army was supposed to have an automatic mode of fire, be able to install a silencer on its barrel, and also have "Picatinny rails" for attaching various optical sights, and various "attachments" such as laser designators and tactical flashlights … At the same time, it is, of course, not intended to replace the M4 rifle, which is now the standard weapon of the American infantry, but will serve as a self-defense weapon for the rear services, which rarely participate in hostilities. That is, from what the military left at one time, besides, they returned again. Here's how!
The shutter is rectangular, milled, slides inside along the grooves of the receiver and along two rods on which springs are put on. The spring damper is located on the rear wall of the receiver and can be removed with it and the butt. In fact, this is all the disassembly of this submachine gun. At the same time, despite its simplicity, it is very modern in terms of design. All controls: cocking handles, fuses and selector switches for the fire mode, as well as release buttons for the magazine, are located both on the right and on the left. B & T's double-sided buttstock is specially designed to ensure comfortable use of the PP by police officers working with helmets and face protection such as tactical goggles. It is protected by a special patent - this is one of the highlights of the company's design. Folding backup sights are also provided. On the top of the receiver there is one long MIL-STD-1913 Picattini rail for optics, and as many as three shorter rails for tactical accessories are located on the sides and bottom.
Who can buy ARS-9?
As noted above, the submachine gun is produced in several versions, of which the PP itself is available for purchase only by military units or law enforcement agencies. For civilians, there are three versions: "Carbine", which has the same 175 mm barrel and overall length as the version with an army "machine gun", but does not have an automatic firing translator; "Sports carbine" with an elongated barrel (410 mm) and an upper bar; and a carbine APC-9P (Pro) of medium length with a barrel length of 240 mm and a top bar of 444 mm.
All samples are available in the APC-9 version, chambered for 9x19 mm, or in the APC-45 version for the.45 ACP. Experts point out that the semi-automatic versions are as light and comfortable as ever possible, and undoubtedly represent one of the best options available for self-defense as well as private security guards. The longer barrel variants have been developed for sporting use and are available in certain jurisdictions where the short barrel version cannot be freely sold to the civilian population (which is the case in the US market due to the NFA's short barrel rule).
What will be will be …
So a kind of "universal" submachine guns, although in several versions at once, it is quite possible that they will serve in individual armies of the world for a long time before the trends of the times do not completely displace them with purely special samples. Or … again, there will be some kind of scientific and technical breakthrough and such submachine guns will return to us again, but on a completely new technological basis. Who knows how it will be there in the future!
