Online Encyclopedia
Uzi submachine gun
The Uzi is a compact, boxy, light-weight submachine gun. It is manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI) and was designed by Uziel Gal (1923–2002), but based on the Czech M23/25 submachine gun design.
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Design
Gal did not want the weapon to be named after him but his request was ignored. It fires the 9mm Parabellum cartridge using an open-bolt, blowback operated design with a cyclic rate of 600 rpm with a muzzle velocity of ~400 m/s (~1,310 ft/s). The weapon is 650 mm (25.6 in) long with stock extended and 470 mm (18.5 in) without. It weighs 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) empty and 4 kg (8.8 lbs) with a fully loaded 25 round magazine inserted. A longer 32 round magazine is also available. The Uzi submachine gun is primarily used as a personal defense weapon by rear-echelon troops, officers, artillery troops and tankers. Advance and smaller Uzi variations are used by the Israeli special forces. Israeli defense doctrine is to load a magazine so that tracer rounds alternate with regular rounds. In operation, the personnel aim by walking the tracers onto the target.
History
The weapon was designed shortly after Israel gained its independence in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Uzi submachine gun was submitted to the Israeli army for evaluation and won out over more conventional designs due to its simplicity and economy of manufacture. It is made of stamped sheet metal and has relatively few parts, making it easy to strip for maintenance. It features a magazine held within the pistol grip, allowing for intuitive reloading in difficult conditions ("fist finds fist"). The weapon also features a grip safety, making it difficult to misfire. Despite the grip safety, the Uzi is notorious for misfiring when dropped or exposed to sudden shocks. When decocked, the ejector port closes preventing entry of dust and dirt. Also, the bolt wraps around the barrel, allowing a heavier, slower-firing bolt in a shorter, better-balanced weapon.
The initial model was accepted in 1951 and was first used in battle in 1956 and gained huge success. It was soon developed into a number of better engineered variants.
Total sales of the weapon to date (end 2001) has netted IMI over $2 billion (US), with over ninety countries using the weapons either for their soldiers or in law enforcement.
In December 2003, the Israeli military announced that it was completely phasing the Uzi out of use by its forces but would continue to manufacture the weapon for both domestic use and export.
The German Bundeswehr still use the Uzi under the name MP2.
Variants
There are two smaller variants of the Uzi SMG: The Mini-Uzi, 360 mm (14.17 in) long and basically a scaled-down version of the Uzi firing from the closed-bolt position, and the Micro-Uzi, at only 250 mm (9.84 in) in length barely larger than a standard pistol and about as small as the original Uzi design could be made. The Micro is also available as a semi-automatic pistol. A Para Micro Uzi variant, designed specially for counter terror units, was recently developed by the IMI and is in use by Israeli CT units such as the YAMAM.
Those variants are still in use by many special forces and law enforcement agencies in the world - including in Israel and the United States.