Blyskawica
Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) underground workshops · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1943
Also known as: Lightning, Blyskawica SMG
Overview
The Blyskawica (Polish for "Lightning") is a 9x19mm blowback, open-bolt submachine gun clandestinely designed and manufactured by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. Conceived in 1943 by engineers Wacaw Zawrotny and Seweryn Wielanier, it drew on features of the British Sten and Finnish Suomi KP/-31 but was uniquely engineered for covert production, with its major components threaded together from steel tubing so they could be made on simple lathes in dispersed underground workshops without specialized machine tools. Roughly 600 to 700 examples were built, and the type saw combat in the hands of insurgents during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3200 g (112.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 730 mm (28.74") |
| Folded Length | 556 mm (21.89") |
| Barrel Length | 197 mm (7.76") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Magazine Capacity | 32 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 365 m/s (1198 fps) |
| Effective Range | 100 m (109 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 600 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Steel |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Bolt Retraction Slot Safety
- Features: Bottom Folding Stock, Fixed Sights, Threaded Tube Construction, Open Bolt Full Auto
Service history
Operators
- Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) · adopted 1944
Conflicts
- Warsaw Uprising (1944)
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 700 · Production years: 1943-1944
Approximately 600-700 units built in clandestine Home Army workshops; production ended with the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944
Origin
Country of origin: Poland
Designer: Wacaw Zawrotny and Seweryn Wielanier
Discontinued: 1944
Notes
One of very few firearms designed and series-produced entirely within an occupied country by a resistance movement. The threaded-tube construction allowed parts to be machined separately in scattered workshops and assembled later, frustrating German efforts to locate the production effort.
Background
The Blyskawica's tube-and-thread design was a deliberate engineering response to occupation: each section could be turned on an ordinary lathe by a different workshop, so no single captured site would reveal a complete weapon. It became one of the iconic small arms of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.