
Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of compact,
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
-fed
automatic firearm
An automatic firearm or fully automatic firearm (to avoid confusion with semi-automatic firearms) is a self-loading firearm that continuously Chamber (firearms), chambers and fires Cartridge (firearms), rounds when the trigger (firearms), trigger ...
s that are typically
submachine guns
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 automa ...
designed to fire
rifle-like cartridges. Most PDWs fire a small-caliber (generally less than in
bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...
diameter), high-velocity
centerfire bottleneck cartridge resembling a scaled-down
intermediate cartridge, essentially making them an "in-between" hybrid between a submachine gun and a conventional
carbine assault rifle.
The use of these rifle-like cartridges gives the PDWs much better ballistic performance (
effective range,
external ballistics and
armor-penetrating capability) than conventional submachine guns, which fire larger-caliber but slower and less aerodynamic
handgun cartridges. The low
recoil of these "sub-intermediate" cartridges also makes
muzzle jumps on PDWs (which typically have short
barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
s) much easier to handle than
short-barreled rifles, especially when shooting in automatic fire or
burst fire.
The name describes the weapon's original conceptual role: as a compact but powerful
small arm that can be conveniently carried for personal defense, usually by support personnel behind the front line such as
military engineers,
logistic drivers,
medical specialist
A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (pediatrics), cancer ( oncology), ...
s,
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
crews, or
signallers. These "second-line" personnel are not strictly combat troops expected to directly engage the enemy, but may still be at risk of encountering decently equipped (and often well-armored) hostile
skirmishers and
infiltrators, therefore having to defend themselves in
close quarters. Such encounters will warrant an effective weapon that is easy to use while having sufficient firepower to
suppress enemy charges and hold them beyond a safe perimeter to prevent the defenders from being overrun, but the risk of hostility is rare enough that a standard
service rifle would be an unnecessary burden during their normal duties.
Because of their light weight, controllability, ease of operation and close-range effectiveness (can penetrate a NATO
CRISAT vest or an
NIJ IIIA soft
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...
armor at up to ), PDWs have also been used by
special forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
,
paramilitaries,
heavily armed tactical police, and
bodyguard
A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...
s.
History

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shortened versions of the infantry rifle were issued as "
carbines" for cavalry troops and gun crews. This designation was dropped as infantry rifle designs became shortened overall, such as in the
Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle. Thereafter,
handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...
s were typically issued as self-defense weapons. However, they were not effective in most
close combat situations. As a result, during the First World War, the
Mauser C96 and artillery versions of the
Luger pistol were issued with attachable shoulder stock holsters, which allowed for greater control and accuracy.
During World War I, the United States secretly developed the
Pedersen device attachment for the
M1903 Springfield rifle that allowed it to fire the
.30-18 Auto (7.65×20mm Longue) pistol cartridge in
semi-automatic mode.
[https://www.guns.com/news/2013/06/22/perishings-super-weapon-the-pedersen-device/ "The Pedersen Device: The World War I superweapon that (almost) won the war". 6/22/13. by Chris Eger][''Military Small Arms of the 20th Century''. 7th Edition. by Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks. Krause Publications. 2000. pages 284 & 285] This attachment was developed to allow an infantryman to convert "his rifle to a form of submachine gun or automatic rifle" in approximately 15 seconds.
Production of the device and modified M1903 rifles started in 1918.
However, the war ended before they were sent to Europe.
The contract was cancelled on March 1, 1919, after production of 65,000 devices, 1.6 million magazines, 65 million cartridges and 101,775 modified Springfield rifles.
[Julian S. Hatcher, ''Hatcher's Notebook'', Military Service Publishing Co., 1947, Ch. 15 The Pedersen Device, pp. 361-372.] The Pedersen device was declared surplus in 1931.
To prevent them from falling into the hands of the lawless, nearly all of the stored devices were destroyed by the Army except for a few examples kept by
Ordnance Department.

In 1918, Ribeyrolles, Sutter and Chauchat designed the
Chauchat-Ribeyrolles 1918 submachine gun. This weapon was meant to be used for close-range protection for the French tank crews. The weapon is based on the RSC Mle. 1917 semi-automatic rifle mechanism. The first trials used a Mannlicher–Berthier clip holding eight cartridges. The trials continued until 1919 with a weapon using the same magazine as the Chauchat. The results were satisfactory but the weapon was too powerful for the intended self-protection use. A mix of standard and tracer bullets was planned to be used to assist in aiming.

In 1938, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department received a request for a light rifle to be issued to mortarmen, radiomen, drivers, clerks, cooks, and similar grades.
[Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. 7th Edition. by Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks. Krause Publications. 2000. pages 289-290] During field exercises, these troops found that the
M1 Garand rifle was too heavy and too cumbersome for general issue. And, while handguns are undeniably convenient, they had limited range, accuracy and power. This request was refused by authorities.
In 1940, after Germany's use of glider-borne and paratroop forces to infiltrate and attack strategic points behind the front lines,
[George, John, ''Shots Fired In Anger'', NRA Press (1981), p. 394] the request for a light rifle was resubmitted and subsequently approved.
U.S. Army Ordnance issued a requirement for a "light rifle" with greater range, firepower, and accuracy than the
M1911 pistol while weighing half as much as the M1 Garand. As a result, the U.S. developed the semi-automatic
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine (formally the United States carbine, caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine chambered in the .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) cartridge that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and t ...
and shortly thereafter the select-fire M2 Carbine. Widely employed until the end of the Vietnam War, these carbines are generally considered the forerunners of modern personal defense weapons.

In 1969,
AO-46 was an unsolicited design by
Peter Andreevich Tkachev working at
TsNIITochMash. Although not accepted for service, this design, in combination with report of the US use of the
XM-177 in Vietnam led the
GRAU to start the competition known as
Project Modern, which led to the adoption of
AKS-74U for service.
["Солдат удачи" номер 9 (72) 2000 Д.Ширяев "Кто изобрел автомат Калашникова?"]

In 1979, Rock Island Arsenal designed a version of the
M16 assault rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...
adapted for shooting from
firing ports on the
M2 Bradley, named the
M231 Firing Port Weapon. In 1980, the weapon was adopted as the M231. Although most of the Bradley AFV's ports have since been removed, these weapons are maintained, and are used by crews for self-defense, close-quarters situations, and for firing from the rear door firing ports as intended.

Developed during the 1980s, the "Personal Defense Weapon" (PDW) concept was created in response to a
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
request as a replacement for
9×19mm Parabellum
The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge.
Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...
submachine guns. The PDW is a compact automatic weapon that can defeat enemy body armor and which can be used conveniently by non-combatant and support troops, as well as a
close quarters battle weapon for
special forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
and
counter-terrorist groups.
Introduced in 1991, the
FN P90 features a
bullpup design with a futuristic appearance. It has a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, an integrated
reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls.
[Kevin, Dockery (2007). Future Weapons. New York: Berkley Trade. .] A simple blow-back automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the
FN 5.7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor.
The P90 was designed to have a length no greater than a man's shoulder width, to allow it to be easily carried and maneuvered in tight spaces, such as the inside of an armored vehicle.
Introduced in 2001, the
Heckler & Koch MP7 is a direct rival to the FN P90. Featuring a more conventional-looking design, the MP7 uses a short-stroke piston gas system as used on H&K's
G36 and
HK416 assault rifles, in place of a
blowback system traditionally seen on submachine guns. The MP7 is able to use 20-, 30- and 40-round magazines and fires
4.6×30mm ammunition which can penetrate soft body armor. Due to the heavy use of polymers in its construction, the MP7 is much lighter than older SMG designs, weighing only with an empty 20-round magazine.
Russia uses
7N21 and
7N31 cartridges which are hotter loaded
9x19mm Parabellum cartridges with special armor piercing bullets. The armor piercing bullets consist of a
hardened steel core inside a lighter sleeve which damages soft targets but strips off if it hits an armored target and lets the core pierce it.
The
RG054 variant of the
9×21mm
The 9×21mm pistol cartridge (also known as the 9×21mm GP, 9×21mm IMI, 9mm IMI, 9×21mm Italian, or 9mm Italian) was designed by Jager (Loano, Italy), then adopted and commercialised by Israel Military Industries for those jurisdictions whe ...
cartridge follows the same pattern.
The space between the core and the bimetallic jacket is filled with
polyethyelene which results in 7N21 being lighter than regular 9×19mm, 7N31 is even lighter than 7N21. Using a different variant of the same cartridge bears the advantage that regular ammunition can still be used. The
PP-19-01 Vityaz,
PP-2000 and
GSh-18 can use regular 9×19mm Parabellum as well as the 7N21 and 7N31 ammunition. The
Russian Aerospace Forces
The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...
added the
PPK-20 variant of the PP-19-01 Vityaz into the
ejection survival kits of the
MiG-29,
Mig-35,
Su-24,
Su-27,
Su-30SM,
Su-34,
Su-35 and
Su-57.
Applications

The PDW concept has not been widely successful, partly because existing PDWs are not significantly cheaper to manufacture than carbines or full-size military rifles. Most PDWs also use a proprietary cartridge, such as the 5.7×28mm cartridge for the FN P90 or the 4.6×30mm for the H&K MP7, neither of which were originally compatible with any existing pistols or rifles/carbines. Although both manufacturers planned handguns that used the same proprietary rounds, only FN went forward with production of the Five-SeveN pistol, which was the only handgun option available for the 5.7×28mm cartridge for over two decades until the introduction of
Ruger-57 in 2019. In turn, this made the PDW cartridges expensive to consumers due to the lack of mass production.
Though personal defense weapons have not been very popular for their intended application, they have been acquired by various military
special forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
units and
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
groups, as an upgrade for their older submachine guns. The FN P90 and Five-seven pistol are used by military and police forces in over 40 countries, including Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, India, Peru, Poland, Spain, and the United States.
The Heckler & Koch MP7 is also used in a number of countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom.
[Gourley, S.; Kemp, I (November 26, 2003). "The Duellists". Jane's Defence Weekly (), Volume 40 Issue 21, pp 26–28.]
PDW cartridges
*
4.38×30mm Libra
*
4.5×26mm MKR
*
HK 4.6×30mm
*
5.56×30mm MINSAS
*
5.56×21mm PINDAD
The 5.56×21mm PINDAD was a personal defence weapon round previously developed in Indonesia. The round is based on the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge, being a cut down version of it. It is sometimes known as 5.56×23mm.
Development
The 5.56x21 2.65 ...
*
.224 Boz
*
FN 5.7×28mm
*
5.8×21mm DAP
*
6.5×25mm CBJ
*
7.5 FK BRNO
* 7.92×24mm
*
9x19mm 7N21,
9x19mm 7N31
*
9×21mm Gyurza
The 9×21mm ''Gyurza'' (''Гюрза'', Russian for " blunt-nosed viper") round is a Russian handgun round designed to defeat body armor that was developed by TsNIITochMash for its SR-1 Vektor semi-automatic pistol and SR-2 Veresk submachine ...
Traditional personal defense weapons
Other
PDW-caliber handguns
PDW-caliber civilian firearms
PDW-caliber guns without
select fire
Select or SELECT may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Select (album), ''Select'' (album), a 1982 album by Kim Wilde
* Select (magazine), ''Select'' (magazine), a 1990–2001 British music magazine
* ''MTV Select'', a 1996–2001 interac ...
capabilities
See also
*
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...
*
Assault weapon
*
Automatic shotgun
References
{{Personal defense weapons
Firearms