The Hotchkiss Type Universal submachine gun was a French Built multi purpose weapon designed in 1949 by Societe des Armes a Feu Portatives Hotchkiss et Cie. It was designed to be ultra compact when folded and it was, since the pistol grip, the rear stock and the magazine with magazine well could all fold to the front, creating an amazingly compact firearm for stowage or 'smuggling'. The primary markets were covert Ops divisions or Paratroopers, however, the Submachine gun was also overly complicated and over engineered (it took way too long to put the gun back together when fully folded). Production stopped in 1952. Other than French Indo China and some sold to Venezuela, no country ever officially adopted or purchased this weapon. Versions exist and are collected purely as oddities; samples of an dead end in submachine gun evolution.
