Heckler & Koch UMP
The Heckler & Koch UMP45 with a vertical foregrip
Type	Submachine gun
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designed	1990s
Manufacturer	Heckler & Koch
Produced	1999-present
Specifications
Weight	Without magazine: 2.3 kg (5.2 lb) (UMP9/UMP40) 2.5 kg (5.4 lb) (UMP45) With unloaded magazine: 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) (UMP9) 2.55 kg (5.6 lb) (UMP40) 2.65 kg (5.8 lb) (UMP45)
Length	450 mm (17.7 in), stock folded 690 mm (27.2 in), stock extended
Barrel length	200 mm (8 in)
Cartridge	.45 ACP (UMP45) .40 S&W (UMP40) 9x19mm Parabellum (UMP9)
Action	Blowback, closed bolt
Rate of fire	650 rounds/min (UMP9/UMP40) 600 rounds/min (UMP45)
Effective range	100 m (9x19mm Parabellum) 50 m (.45 ACP)
Feed system	30-round detachable box magazine (UMP9/UMP40) 25-round detachable box magazine (UMP45)

The UMP (Universale Maschinenpistole, German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. The UMP has been adopted by various agencies such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.^[1] Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a successor to the MP5, though both remain in production.^[2]

Design details[link]

A Royal Thai Navy SEAL with the UMP9 during a boarding exercise, August 2008.

The UMP is a blowback operated, magazine-fed submachine gun firing from a closed bolt.^[3] As originally designed, the UMP is chambered for larger cartridges than other submachine guns like the MP5, to provide more stopping power against unarmored targets (with a slightly lower effective range) than the 9x19mm MP5 provides. A larger cartridge produces more recoil, and makes control more difficult in fully automatic firing. To mitigate this, the cyclic rate of fire was reduced to 650 rounds/min (600 rounds/min for the UMP45), which makes it one of the slower firing submachine guns on the market.

The UMP9 (the 9x19mm version of the UMP) is almost 0.2 kg (almost .5 lb) lighter than its MP5 counterpart. Its predominantly polymer construction reduces both its weight and the number of parts susceptible to corrosion.

The UMP is available in four trigger group configurations, featuring different combinations of semi-automatic, 2-round burst, fully automatic, and safe settings. It features a side-folding buttstock to reduce its length during transport. When the last round of the UMP is fired, the bolt locks open, and can be released via a catch on the left side. The standard viewing sights comprise an aperture rear sight and a front ring with a vertical post. It can mount four Picatinny rails (one on top of the receiver, and one on the right, left, and the bottom of the handguard) for the attachment of accessories such as optical sights, flashlights, or laser sights. Vertical foregrips can be attached to the bottom rail for increased controllability during burst and automatic fire.

Variants[link]

There are three versions of the UMP: the UMP45, firing a .45 ACP cartridge; the UMP40, firing a .40 S&W cartridge; and the UMP9, firing a 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge. Apart from the different chambering, all versions feature the same basic design, the most noticeable difference being the curved magazine used on the UMP9 (whereas the UMP40 and UMP45 use a straight magazine). All three versions of the weapon can be converted to any of the available chamberings via replacement of the bolt, barrel, and magazine.

The USC or Universal Self-loading Carbine is a semi-automatic version of the UMP that is available to private citizens for sporting purposes. It was designed following the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 in the United States and conforms to those standards.^[4] Changes from the original UMP include a "thumbhole" type stock and grip (versus the pistol grip of the UMP, though aesthetically there is little difference), longer barrel (no flash suppressor), limited 10-round magazine, and semi-automatic only trigger group and action. Originally available in gray, as of early 2007 the USC comes only in an all-black finish.

Users[link]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers carrying UMPs.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency officers carrying UMP9 and SG-553.

Country	Organization name	Model	Quantity	Date	References
Australia	New South Wales Police Force Tactical Operations Unit	UMP40	_	_	[5][6]
	New South Wales Department of Corrective Services Hostage Response Group	UMP40	_	_	[7][8]
	Victoria Police Critical incident response team	UMP40	_	_	[9][10]
Canada	Brantford Police Service Emergency Response Team	UMP40	_	_	[11]
Egypt	Egyptian Special Forces of Police	UMP9	_	_	[citation needed]
Georgia	Georgian Special Forces	UMP45	_	_	[12]
Jordan	Jordanian Special Operations Forces	_	_	_	[13]
Latvia	Latvian Army	UMP9	_	_	[14]
Malaysia	Special Task And Rescue counter-terrorism team of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency	UMP9	_	_	[15]
Mexico	Mexican Marines	_	_	_	[16]
Romania	Land Forces special operations battalions	UMP9	_	_	[17]
Serbia	Special Brigade of the Serbian Army	UMP9	_	_	[18]
Slovakia	5th Special Forces Regiment of the Armed Forces of Slovak Republic	_	_	_	[19]
Thailand	Royal Thai Navy SEALs	UMP9	_	_	[20]
United States	U.S. Customs and Border Protection	UMP40	_	_	[1]
	Pentagon Force Protection Agency	UMP40	_	_	[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: HK UMP (category)

• Official page
• UMP operator's manual
• 2008 Heckler & Koch Military and LE brochure
• The UMP at Modern Firearms
• HKPRO page on UMP
• HKPRO page on the USC
• Nazarian's Gun Recognition Guide - H&K UMP Demonstration (MOV)

Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK) (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛklɐʔʊntˈkɔx]^[1]) is a German defense manufacturing company that produces various small arms. Some of their products include the MP5 submachine gun, G3 automatic rifle, the G36 assault rifle, the HK 416, the MP7 personal defense weapon, the USP series of handguns, and the high-precision PSG1 sniper rifle. All firearms made by HK are named by a prefix and the official designation, with suffixes used for variants.

HK has a history of innovation in firearms, such as the use of polymers in weapon designs and the use of an integral rail for flashlights on handguns. HK also developed modern polygonal rifling, noted for its high accuracy, increased muzzle velocity and barrel life. Not all of its technologically ambitious designs have translated into commercially successful products (for instance, the advanced but now abandoned G11 assault rifle, which fired caseless high-velocity ammunition). HK produces a whole range of small arms, from pistols to grenade launchers and machine guns. In its extensive product range, HK has used most of the operating systems for small arms: blowback operation, short-recoil, roller-delayed blowback, gas-delayed blowback, and gas operation.

History[link]

HK was founded by engineers Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel in 1949^[2] from the remnants of the Mauser company; the company was registered in 1950.^[2] Initially the company manufactured machine tools, sewing machine parts,^[2] gauges and other precision parts, but this changed in 1956 when the company proposed the G3 automatic rifle for the Bundeswehr (German Federal Army).^[2] Since then HK has designed and manufactured more than one hundred different types of firearms and devices for the world's military and law enforcement organizations. In 1991, in the wake of the cancellation of the G41 and G11 rifles, HK was bought by British Aerospace's Royal Ordnance division.^[2] During that period of ownership they were contracted to carry out the modification programme to the SA80 series of rifles for the British Army, needed to address a number of reliability issues. Also, H&K developed the lightweight carbon fiber–reinforced G36 polymer assault rifle, the current (2008) service rifle of the Bundeswehr^[2] and numerous other military and police forces. In 2002 the renamed BAE Systems resold HK to a group of private investors, who created the German group holding company (HK Beteiligungs-GmbH).^[2]

Heckler & Koch facility in Oberndorf am Neckar.

The company is located in Oberndorf in the state of Baden-Württemberg, but also has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France and the United States. The company motto is "Keine Kompromisse!" (No Compromises!).^[2] HK provides firearms for many military and paramilitary units, like the Special Air Service, U.S. Navy SEALs, Delta Force, FBI HRT, the German KSK and GSG 9 and many other counter-terrorist and hostage rescue teams.^[3][4][5]

HK was contracted by the U.S. Army to produce the kinetic energy subsystem^[6] (see: kinetic projectiles or kinetic energy penetrator) of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, a planned replacement for the M16/M203 grenade launcher combination. The OICW was designed to fire 5.56 mm bullets and 25 mm grenades. The kinetic energy component was also developed separately as the XM8, though both the OICW and XM8 are now indefinitely suspended.

HK is also contracted to refurbish the SA80 range of weapons for the British Army, mainly because at the time the contract was put out to tender HK was part of BAE Systems.^[7]

Recently, HK developed a modified version of the United States issued M4, called the HK416.^[8] HK replaced the direct impingement system used by the Stoner design on the original M16 platform with a short-stroke piston operating system. At this date, there is no indication that the rifle will be adopted by the United States Armed Forces. However, the elite Delta Force and other special operations units have fielded the HK416 in combat,^[9] and Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has called for a "free and open competition" to determine whether the army should buy the HK416 or continue to purchase more M4 carbines.^[10] Incoming Secretary of the Army Pete Geren agreed in July 2007 to hold a "dust chamber" test, pitting the M4 against HK's HK416 and XM8, as well as the rival Fabrique Nationale's SOF Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) design. Coburn had threatened to stop Geren’s Senate confirmation if he did not agree to the test.^[11] The XM8 and SCAR had the fewest failures in the test, closely followed by the HK416, while the M4 had by far the most.^[12] The Norwegian Army in 2007 became the first to field the HK416 to be its new standard issue rifle.^[13]

HK sells its pistols in the United States to both the civilian and law enforcement markets. The company has locations in Virginia, New Hampshire, and Georgia. In 2004, HK was awarded a major handgun contract for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, worth a potential $26.2 million for up to 65,000 pistols.^[14] This contract ranks as the single largest handgun procurement contract in US law enforcement history.^[15] Many HK civilian rifles that were briefly sold in the United States now have a high value on the secondary market.

The UK headquarters of HK are based within the Easter Park Industrial Estate Nottingham.

Criticisms[link]

HK has been accused of shipping small arms to conflict regions such as Bosnia^[16] and Nepal,^[17] and has licensed its weapons for production by governments with poor human rights records such as Sudan, Thailand and Burma.^[18] It has been argued that the company effectively evaded EU export restrictions when these licensees sold HK weapons to conflict zones including Indonesia,^[19] Sri Lanka^[20] and Sierra Leone.^[21]

HK abbreviations[link]

Format: Abbreviation = German Text ("English Text")

• A = Ausführung ("version")^[22]
• G = Gewehr ("rifle")^[23]
• K = Either Kurz ("short") for pistols and submachine guns or Karabiner ("Carbine") for rifles and assault rifles.^[24]
• AG = Either stands for Anbau-Gerät ("attached device") or Anbaugranatwerfer ("attached grenade launcher")
• GMG = Granatmaschinengewehr ("grenade machine gun")^[25]
• GMW = Granatmaschinenwerfer (automatic grenade launcher)^[26]
• MG = Maschinengewehr ("machine gun") ^[25]
• MP = Maschinenpistole ("submachine gun" or "machine pistol")^[27]
• PSG = Präzisionsschützengewehr ("precision sharp shooter rifle")^[28]
• PSP = Polizei-Selbstlade-Pistole ("police self-loading pistol")^[29]
• SD = Schalldämpfer ("sound dampener", "suppressor");^[30] In the case of the MP5 having an integral suppressor, in the case of the USP, an extended threaded barrel for attaching a suppressor.
• SG = Scharfschützengewehr ("sharpshooters rifle") ^[31]
• SL = Selbstlader ("Autoloader") ^[32]
• UMP = Universale Maschinenpistole ("universal machine pistol")^[33]
• UCP = Universal Combat Pistol
• USC = Universal Self-loading Carbine
• USP = Universale Selbstladepistole ("universal self-loading pistol")^[34]
• ZF = Zielfernrohr ("telescopic sight")^[35]

See also[link]

Companies portal

• List of Heckler & Koch products
• List of modern armament manufacturers

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heckler & Koch

• Official website (international)
• Official website (U.S.)
• 2008 Heckler & Koch Military and LE brochure
• HK Pro, fan page
• HK information on Remtek
• Heckler & Koch Webshop