On the 19th January, a contract award notice was published announcing that Italy’s Carabinieri have ordered 1,000 new Beretta PMX submachine guns. Beretta unveiled their new submachine gun, the successor to the iconic Modello 12 submachine gun, back in November at the 2017 Paris Milipol expo.

The Carabinieri are the national gendarmerie of Italy, responsible for policing both the military and civilians. Formed in the early 19th century they are the fourth branch of Italy’s armed forces, with over 100,000 active personnel.

Left-side view of the Beretta PMX with stock folded (Beretta Defense Technologies)

Beretta’s newest submachine gun, the PMX, was designed in part to meet the future requirements of the Carabinieri who are currently equipped with the venerable Beretta PM12. The PMX shares its basic design with the Swiss B&T P26 semi-automatic carbine, however, the Beretta is a full-auto capable, select fire submachine gun.

The PMX weighs 5.3 lbs (2.4 kg) unloaded, has a 6.9 inches (17.5cm) barrel and feeds from a 30-round transparent magazine. With its stock extended it measures 25.2 inches (64cm) and 16.5 inches (41.8cm) folded. The weapon has a full length Picatinny top rail and 3 additional shorter rails at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock and ambidextrous controls, including a reversible charging handle.

Left-side view of the Beretta PMX with stock extended (Beretta Defense Technologies)

Right-side view of the Beretta PMX with stock extended (Beretta Defense Technologies)

The contract agreed by the General Command of the Carabinieri Corps is worth 816,000 Euros (approximately $1,010,000). With the PM12 no longer in production the Carabinieri will be seeking a like replacement over the coming years and this order represents the PMX’s first purchase. The translated contract award notice noted that “the PMX as a machine gun fully compliant with the technical and operational needs of the weapon, being the natural evolution of PM12.”

Right-side view of the Beretta PMX with stock folded (Beretta Defense Technologies)

The news of the PMX order comes at the same time the Italian Ministry of Defense confirmed a 4,406,666 Euro (approximately $5,460,000) contract order for ‘Beretta rifles’, while the contract notice does not stipulate which sort of rifle it is likely the ARX 160.

Sources:

‘Italy-Rome: Machine-guns 2018 / S 015-030581 Notice of contract award’, Ted, Retrieved 01/25/18, from source

‘Italy-Rome: Firearms 2018 / S 013-027397 Notice of the awarding of contract’, Ted, Retrieved 01/25/18, from source

You can find the PMX’s full specs on the Beretta Defense Technologies website here