The CPW (Compact Personal Weapon) is a multi-caliber
submachine gun developed by
ST Kinetics
ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd (STELS), doing business as ST Kinetics, is a strategic business area of ST Engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles.
In 2000, ST Engineering acquired the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS ...
of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
as a
PDW-class firearm. The prototype is chambered in
9×19mm Parabellum but the manufacturer assures that the weapon's modular design allows for a simple caliber conversion to either
5.7×28mm or
4.6×30mm.
Design details
The CPW is a modular
selective fire lever-delayed blowback
Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge.
Several blowback systems exist ...
operated weapon (using what STK calls a cam recoil mitigation mechanism), which contributes to the low felt
recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...
and allows for use with high pressure ammunition. The weapon has a conventional submachine gun layout with the magazine housed in the pistol grip. The pistol grip's backstrap and the 30-round magazine are molded from a translucent plastic which allows the shooter to quickly verify the remaining level of ammunition visually.
The receiver is machined from a lightweight
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
and most of the other components are made of a high-strength
polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
to further reduce weight and costs.
The barrel and bolt assembly can be quickly replaced, converting the submachine gun to the small-caliber armor-piercing PDW ammunition.
The CPW is fully
ambidextrous
Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...
. Every lever, control or toggle has been mirrored on the opposite side of the receiver – this includes the cocking handle, the fire control selector/manual safety switch (installed above the pistol grip) as well as the bolt release lever, which is used to slam the bolt closed after inserting a new magazine. The ejection port is located on the right side of the weapon.
The CPW has a collapsible metal stock that provides stability during aimed fire. When collapsed, the weapon is not much larger than a conventional
pistol, allowing for easy handling and concealment; the CPW can be carried in a holster.
Two
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...
s are provided in the CPW for mounting sights and tactical accessories – one continuous rail runs across the top of the receiver and a second shorter accessory rail is installed under the barrel, in front of the trigger guard. The top rail can accommodate conventional
iron sights or optoelectronic sighting devices such as reflex sights. The bottom rail is intended primarily for laser aiming modules, vertical grips and flashlights.
Users
* - As of 2019, used in limited numbers by special police units.
* - Used by
Singapore Prisons Emergency Action Response.
See also
*
FN P90
The FN P90 is a compact 5.7×28mm personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. It can also be considered a submachine gun. Created in response to NATO requests for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum firearms, th ...
*
Heckler & Koch MP7
*
AR-57
The AR-57, also known as the AR Five Seven, is available as either an upper receiver for the AR-15/M16 rifle or a complete rifle, firing 5.7×28mm rounds from standard FN P90 magazines. It was designed by AR57 LLC was produced by AR57 of Kent, Was ...
*
Steyr TMP
*
Pindad PS-01
The Pindad PS-01 (''Pistol Serbu, literally Assault Pistol'') is a PDW-caliber pistol being developed by Pindad of Indonesia. Chambered in the locally produced 5.56x21mm armor-piercing ammunition with an 18-round magazine, it is presumably no lo ...
*
FN Five-seven
The FN Five-seven (stylized as Five-seveN) is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The pistol is named for its 5.7×28mm (.224 in) bullet diameter, and the trademark capitalization style is intended to ...
*
Modern Sub Machine Carbine
The Joint Venture Protective Carbine (JVPC), also known as Modern Sub Machine Carbine (MSMC) until 2014, is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, select fire submachine gun designed to chamber the 5.56×30mm MINSAS cartridge. It was designed by the Ar ...
Notes
External links
ST Engineering—Official site
{{Singapore-designed weapons
Firearms articles needing expert attention
5.7×28mm firearms
HK 4.6×30mm firearms
9mm Parabellum firearms
Personal defense weapons
Submachine guns
Delayed blowback firearms
Weapons of Singapore
Machine pistols