The Orița is a

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun ...

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

that was manufactured in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and for several years afterwards. It was named for Captain Marin Orița (Military Technical Corps,

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

), who is credited in Romania with its design. (Other sources describe the Orița as a joint

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

-Romanian project;Axworthy & al (1995), p. 75 the Czech Leopold Jašek and the Romanian Nicolae Sterca are also considered to have contributed to its design.) The mass production was made by CMC Uzinele Metallurgice Copșa Mică together with

Cugir Arms Factory Cugir Arms Factory is a Romanian state owned defence company that is one of the oldest defense companies of Romania. Cugir Arms Factory has a history that can be traced back to 1799 during the Austrian Empire. The steel manufacturing workshops were ...

. The first version, Model 1941, entered operational service with the

in 1943. Two later improved models were the Model 1948, with a fixed wooden stock, and the rare paratrooper Model 1949, with a folding metal stock. It remained in service with the Romanian Army until it was replaced in the 1960s by the more powerful

Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965 The Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965 (abbreviated PM md. 63 or simply md. 63) is a Romanian 7.62x39mm assault rifle. Developed in the late 1950s, the PM md. 63 was a derivative of the Soviet AKM produced under license. It was the standard iss ...

, a Romanian version of the

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

assault rifle. The Orița remained in service with the Romanian paramilitaries ("Gărzile Patriotice") until the 1970s. With a production rate of 666 pieces per month as of October 1942, 6,000 were produced until October 1943. A small quantity of these Romanian weapons was also used by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

during the last two years of the Second World War.John Walter, ''Guns of the Third Reich''

Greenhill Books Lionel Leventhal is a British publisher of books on military history and related topics, whose eponymous company was established in 1967. History After working in a bookshop (1954–1956), Leventhal joined the publishing company of Herbert Jenk ...

, 2004, p. 163

Other specifications

* Rifling: 6 right-hand grooves

Orita Carbine

A carbine version of the Orita was designed, chambered in

9×23mm Steyr The 9×23mm Steyr, also known as 9mm Steyr, is a centerfire pistol cartridge originally developed for the Steyr M1912 pistol. History Adopted in 1912, the 9mm Steyr was the service ammunition for most branches of the military in Austria-Hungary ...

. Only one prototype was built; it is preserved in the National Military Museum in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Notes

Sources

* * Axworthy, Mark, Cornel I. Scafeș, and Cristian Crăciunoiu. (1995) ''Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945''. London: Arms and Armour . * König, Carol. ''Căpitanul Marin Orița—Inventator român de prestigiu din al doilea sfert al secolului al XX‑lea.'' Muzeul Militar Central, Studii și materiale de muzeografie și istorie militară, 10 (1977): 229–33. * .

External links

Orița Model 1941
Photograph from the Romanian Ministry of Defence.
Orița Model 1941
Technical drawing.
Orița submachine guns
Photograph from the National Military Museum of Romania. World War II submachine guns 9mm Parabellum submachine guns Submachine guns of Romania World War II military equipment of Romania {{submachinegun-stub