Personal defense weapon
Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of compact, magazine-fed automatic firearms that are typically submachine guns designed to fire rifle-like cartridges.
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 specialists, artillery 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[1] or an NIJ IIIA soft Kevlar armor[2][3] at up to 200 m (220 yd)), PDWs have also been used by special forces, paramilitaries, heavily armed tactical police, and bodyguards.
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.
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.
[8] In 1940, after Germany's use of glider-borne and paratroop forces to infiltrate and attack strategic points behind the front lines,[9][10] the request for a light rifle was resubmitted and subsequently approved.
Developed during the 1980s, the "Personal Defense Weapon" (PDW) concept was created in response to a NATO request as a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns.
[16][17] 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.
[27] Though personal defense weapons have not been very popular for their intended application, they have been acquired by various military special forces units and law enforcement groups, as an upgrade for their older submachine guns[citation needed].
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.
