Ares Defense FMG (Folding Machine Gun)

History

Ares Defense FMG ("Folding Machine Gun") is a novel attempt by an arms manufacturer to develop a solution of a completely different type of compact submachine gun. Ares, Incorporated - led by renowned weapons designer Eugene Stoner (designer of the M16 rifle and M63 Stoner LMG) - is responsible for the design thanks to a certain Francis J. Warin. The project was created to address numerous kidnapping incidents in South America in the 1980s. So the basic concept of a "foldable machine gun" revolves around the idea of ??arming civilians with an extremely concealed weapon, especially high-level/valuable businessmen who often end up being targeted by kidnappers. Take immediate action in seconds to provide civilians with the first and last line of defense.

The weapon appeared in 1986, but was never mass-produced.

The result of this work is the Ares FMG ("Folding Machine Gun"), which uses a basic recoil action and proves acceptable for a weapon of this size, especially with the ubiquitous 9x19 mm When used with pistol cartridges. The weapon is loaded from a 20- or 32-round straight magazine that is inserted into the Israeli UZI's pistol grip ala, balanced by placing the grip, feed and trigger assembly midway through the length of the weapon (as well as the ejection port) ). Notably, the 32-round magazine prevents the folding action from being achieved. The FMG's folding action basically divides the weapon into three main components - receiver, grip/trigger group and hollow shoulder rest. The FMG has a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute and an effective range between 250 and 400 feet.

Three-shot bursts are built into at least one prototype.

The Ares folding submachine gun folds by pressing the locking button that releases the shoulder stock, the operator moves the stock down and forward over the pistol grip. This coupling unit is then hinged and folded under the receiver to complete the portable, hideable rectangular shape. To deploy the weapon, the operator simply presses the two release buttons located on the front of the receiver, pulling the shoulder assembly down and back, then up on its hinge, which finally locks it in place - completing the deployment process. In order to keep the design as protruding as possible, no iron sights were installed, a more or less admitted concession given the expected close quarters combat.

The FMG folds to a manageable length of 10.3 inches (262 mm) and takes just 3-5 seconds to get up and running.

While it was never put into mass production, at least five working versions are believed to have been built and tested. The first model accepted the long, straight magazine of the German WWII MP40 submachine gun. The second is famously designed for UZI's 9mm straight magazine.

Also, apart from these few examples, no variants have been found. While an interesting concept at the time, the design clearly failed to generate the expected interest in further development of the FMG - it turned out to be easier to simply hire protection-trained security personnel than the average trader armed with automatic weapons .

The M-21 folding submachine gun made by Dave Botman and the Russian PP-90 (9x18mm Malakoff submachine gun) both follow the same design philosophy as the Ares FMG, although the Ares product is still the best known of the three.

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