Until the end of the forties of the last century, Egypt actually did not have its own defense industry, and therefore was forced to purchase weapons and equipment from foreign countries. Only in 1949 were plans drawn up for the construction of new enterprises and the production of military products. One of the first small arms produced by the Egyptian industry was the Port Said submachine gun.
Soon after the end of World War II, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition handed over to the Egyptian army a large number of various materiel. This made it possible to cover part of the needs of the armed forces, but did not completely solve the urgent problems. In the late forties, a plan appeared to build its own defense industry, capable of at least partially meeting the army's supply requirements and reducing the need for imports. At the beginning of the next decade, the first results of this kind were obtained in the field of small arms.
Port Said submachine gun in combat configuration. Photo Modernfirearms.net
For well-known reasons, Egypt did not have its own design school in the field of small arms. For many years, only samples of foreign development were in service. Taking this into account, the army command decided to abandon the creation of its own weapons from scratch and start the production of foreign weapons under license. Having studied the offers on the international market, Egypt chose Sweden for cooperation.
In the early fifties, the Egyptian military department and the Swedish company Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori (now Bofors Carl Gustaf AB) signed several agreements defining the terms of mutually beneficial cooperation. For a fee, the Egyptian side received technical documentation for several samples of Swedish-designed small arms. The customer relied on a license for independent serial production of these systems. In addition, Egypt was to receive some second-hand technological equipment necessary for the production of weapons.
Product with a folded stock. Photo Modernfirearms.net
Over the next few months, the purchased equipment was delivered to the new Maadi Factories (now Maadi Company for Engineering Industries) weapons factory. After the completion of the commissioning work, the plant was supposed to begin the serial production of two new models of small arms, previously developed by Swedish gunsmiths.
One of the two new products intended for the rearmament of the Egyptian army was the Kulsprutepistol m / 45 submachine gun (abbreviated as Kpist m / 45) or Carl Gustaf m / 45. This weapon was developed in Sweden in the first half of the forties, and since 1945 has been in service with the Swedish army. The submachine gun had good characteristics, and was also distinguished by its ease of production and a low price. By the combination of various characteristics, the Egyptian military considered it the most profitable for licensed production and use.
The barrel was equipped with a protective cover. Photo Armory-online.ru
Launching mass production and adopting licensed weapons for service, the Egyptian army did not retain its original name, but proposed a new name. Egyptian-made Kpist m / 45 were named Port Said. The weapon was named after a small town at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It is curious that a few years later, during the Suez War, the city of Port Said became the site of a major battle, during which Egyptian soldiers actively used the weapon of the same name.
The Swedish submachine gun "Karl-Gustav" m / 45 did not differ in its complex design, and therefore the Egyptian plant "Maadi" did not begin to alter it or update it. Serial "Port Saids" differed from the basic Kpist m / 45 only in stamps and, in some cases, in a different quality of performance of individual parts. In terms of design, performance and operation, both samples were the same.
Like the Swedish prototype, the Egyptian submachine gun was an automatic weapon chambered for the 9x19 mm Parabellum pistol cartridge, built according to the traditional scheme of that time. Used store ammunition. Convenience of shooting was provided by a folding butt of a characteristic design.
The back of the weapon. Photo Armory-online.ru
"Port Said" was equipped with a 9 mm rifled barrel 212 mm long (relative length - 23.5 caliber). The barrel was attached to the front end of the receiver using a simple screw cap. For better cooling and for greater safety, the shooter was equipped with a tubular protective casing. Above, below and on the sides of the casing there were three large holes for supplying atmospheric air to cool the barrel.
Like many submachine guns of the time, Carl Gustaf / "Port Said" received a simple receiver in the form of a metal tube of sufficient length. In its front part there was a thread for installing the barrel, behind the chamber, on the top right, there was a window for ejecting spent cartridges. On the right wall of the box there was a slot for the cocking handle, which occupied about half of its length. From above, a small L-shaped groove departed from the slot, which served as a fuse. The rear end of the receiver was closed with a cover mounted on the thread.
Receiver and controls. An L-shaped groove is visible, which served as a fuse. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
From below, a low narrow rectangular casing was attached to the tube, connected to the magazine receiver and containing the details of the trigger mechanism. In addition, a pistol grip and a folding stock were attached to this casing.
In the Swedish project, the simplest automation was used, built on the basis of a free shutter. The bolt was a massive cylindrical part moving along the receiver. There was a fixed striker inside the bolt cup, and an extractor was placed next to it. On the back of the bolt, a hole was provided for installing the cocking handle. The entire cavity of the receiver, located behind the bolt, was given under a reciprocating mainspring of sufficient power.
"Port Said" received the simplest trigger mechanism, which allowed to shoot only in bursts. In its composition there was only a trigger, a sear, a spring and some other parts, including axles and pins for fastening. One of the modifications of the basic Kulsprutepistol m / 45 had a more advanced trigger with the ability to fire single and burst, but Egyptian weapons were proposed to be assembled according to an older project. The submachine gun also did not have a fuse built into the trigger. The weapon was blocked by moving the bolt to the rear position, then turning it and installing the cocking handle in the L-shaped groove.
Incomplete dismantling of Port Said. Under the weapon is a magazine and a bolt with a reciprocating mainspring. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The ammunition supply system was based on detachable box magazines with a double inline arrangement of 36 rounds. The store was placed in a low receiving shaft under the receiver. Its fixation was carried out using a latch located behind the receiver.
The licensed submachine gun had not the most complex sighting devices that corresponded to the tasks performed. Above the muzzle of the barrel, on top of the protective casing, there was an unregulated front sight with a U-shaped protection. A rear sight with similar protection was placed above the central part of the tubular receiver. It had the shape of the letter "L" and could change its position for shooting at 100 and 200 m.
Weapon markings. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The Port Said submachine gun was not particularly comfortable, but still had acceptable ergonomics. Under the rear of the USM casing, a pistol grip for fire control was attached, made of metal and equipped with wooden pads. A protective trigger guard was placed in front of it. The rear element of the casing protruded noticeably beyond the tubular box and the handle; it had a loop for the hinged installation of the frame stock. The second mount was located at the bottom of the back on the handle.
The frame butt of the weapon was a U-shaped piece made of a small diameter metal tube. The longitudinal elements of the butt retained their original diameter, while their ends, mounted on the weapon mounts, and the shoulder rest were made flat. A rubber tube was put on the upper element of the butt, which served as a cheek. The butt was folded by turning to the right and forward. When folded, the shoulder rest was to the right of the store, slightly behind it.
Aqaba is a simplified version of Port Said. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The weapon should be carried using a belt mounted on a pair of swivels. The front one was on the left side of the barrel casing and was fixed in the central hole. The second was placed in the back of the receiver.
The full length of the "Port Said" with the butt unfolded was 808 mm. When folded, this parameter was reduced to 550 mm. Weapon weight without magazine - 3.35 kg. Automation made it possible to shoot at a rate of up to 600 rounds per minute. The medium barrel accelerated the bullet to 425 m / s. The effective range of fire reached 150-200 m. The weapon was distinguished by its simplicity of manufacture and use, thanks to which it could be produced in large quantities and quickly mastered by the troops.
Weapon folded. Photo Modernfirearms.net
Serial production of the Port Said submachine guns was launched by the mid-fifties, and in just a few years, the supply of such weapons made it possible to significantly update the materiel of the troops. Egyptian-made products replaced older weapons supplied by the United Kingdom and the United States. For many years, "Port Said" became the main weapon of its class in the armed forces of Egypt.
Nevertheless, the serial "Port Said" did not fully suit the military. A few years after its appearance, an order appeared to create a simplified modification. In the sixties, a new sample called "Aqaba" was put into production. The submachine gun, probably named after one of the bays of the Red Sea, had noticeable differences from the base sample, and in addition, differed in weight and some operational parameters.
Folded weapons from a different angle. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
The product "Akaba" has lost the protective casing of the barrel. In this regard, the front sight was moved to the front of the receiver. Her protection has been removed. The frame stock was replaced with a retractable stock made of thick wire. The longitudinal elements of such a butt moved along the receiver in four tubular guides installed on the sides of the trigger casing. The U-shaped shoulder rest with the stock folded was behind the handle. There was a spring-loaded button under the rear tubes that fixed the butt in one of two positions.
Despite all the changes, the Aqaba submachine gun hardly differed from the Port Said in size, but was slightly lighter. Technical and combat characteristics have not changed either. Serial weapons of a simplified design quickly replaced the products of the basic modification in mass production. The parallel release of two samples was not planned.
Rear view. You can see the improvements associated with the use of the new stock. Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
Serial production of submachine guns and "Aqaba", according to various sources, continued until the middle or the end of the seventies. During this time, the army received several tens of thousands of products of two models. Mass deliveries of licensed weapons in the original and modified versions allowed, over time, to abandon weapons previously transferred by friendly countries. At the same time, the presence of only two submachine guns with the maximum possible unification greatly simplified the mass operation of the weapon.
Since the middle of the last century, the situation in the Middle East has not been calm. A number of countries treated each other at least unfriendly, which from time to time led to the outbreak of open conflicts. All clashes and wars in the region became the reason for the use of existing weapons, including licensed submachine guns.
incomplete disassembly of "Aqaba". Photo Deactivated-guns.co.uk
According to known data, the first conflict with the use of Port Said was the Suez War. Subsequently, there were the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, and other full-scale conflicts. In each of them, Egyptian troops used the available small arms, including Swedish-developed submachine guns. For obvious reasons, this weapon did not show any particular advantages over its counterparts, and was also inferior to more powerful systems. However, it also helped the Egyptian soldiers to make a significant contribution to defending the interests of their country.
The basic Carl Gustaf m / 45 submachine gun was developed in the mid-forties and was based on ideas of its time. Over time, it has become obsolete and has ceased to meet current requirements. In the eighties, the Egyptian army and security forces began a new rearmament, during which most of the Port Said and Aqaba submachine guns were replaced. As a replacement, both samples of the same class and machine guns were used, depending on the specifics of the rearmament unit.
An artisanal Carlo submachine gun seized in 2006. Photo Wikimedia Commons
To date, most of the Egyptian weapons of Swedish design have been decommissioned and replaced with other weapons. Nevertheless, as far as is known, a certain number of "Port Saids" and "Akab" still remain in the arsenals of individual units. It can be assumed that the resource of such a weapon is approaching the end, which is why it will soon have to be written off. This concludes the story of the first Egyptian submachine gun.
Talking about the Port Said submachine gun, it is necessary to mention an improvised weapon, to a certain extent based on its design. At the beginning of the last decade, various Arab formations in the Middle East were armed with Carlo submachine guns, produced in artisanal conditions by various workshops. Such a weapon, having noticeable structural and technological differences, is generally based on the design of the Swedish "Carl Gustav". This is also the reason for the name "Carlo".
Not having its own design school, Egypt was forced to acquire a license to produce weapons of someone else's design. The result was the appearance of two curious submachine guns and the rearmament of the army. From a technical point of view, the products "Port Said" and "Aqaba" can hardly be considered perfect, but the successful solution of the task in the form of rearmament of troops allows us to call them successful. However, this success was the first and the last. After the termination of production of "Aqaba" Egypt no longer produced submachine guns, preferring to buy finished products from foreign countries.
