Talk:Sterling SMG

U.S. Special Forces

A little off topic but a few years ago I saw an article in Soldier of Fortune about a Special Forces Humvee patrol in Afghanistan. The vehicles were loaded down with the usual weapons, M4s, M2 .50s and the like but what I found interesting was what was clipped to the dash. The vehicles all seemed to have Sterling L2A3s as, presumably, PDWs or something easy for the drivers to reach. The reason for my curiosity is that I thought the MP-5 was the de facto SMG of American Special Operations Forces. Anyone have any idea what the story could have been? --Charon68 16:14, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Well I'm not speaking from experience, but I do know that SFs have a wide latitude as to what weapons they can carry. I know that the Sterlings are REALLY slim and their slender body lines are great for stowing away on vehicles. For a backup, I'd carry one, and I can't see how an MP5 could be comfortably clipped to ANY dashboard... ;) MoviePropMaster2008 17:08, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Maybe they were Brits or joint US\UK force? And by the way, MP5K is pretty agile too. Also, in my opinion SMG's became obsolete for front-line military application when ultra-short AR's saw widespead use.

The Sterling was used by UK, Australian & NZ forces as driver & car guns. That was their only use. However, MP5s and MP5Ks (on bungie cordes hidden under the dash) became driver/car guns after 2005 (and as of 2007, few if any special forces in Iraq use any SMGs at all). A few British PMCs and PSCs used Sterlings in Iraq as their SMGs, until they were replaced by a shipment of MP5s, bought in 2007/8. And yes, the short carbines have started the death moves of the SMG - atleast in Iraq.

SMGs are still used by alot of SOF organizations for inside buildings where overpenetration is a concern. That said, the Sterlings in question may have been locally-acquired - there's lots of ex-British kit floating around Iraq and Afghanistan, both real and copied. Also, the Sterling was not just used for drivers, they used to be issued to radio operators and dispatch riders. You also have your countries wrong - Australia never issued the Sterling, they had the F1. India and Pakistan both used it, as did most of Africa, Jamaica still issues it to reservists, and here in Canada we had the C1 SMG, which was only a very slightly modified Sterling. In fact back in the day there was an actual C1 holster sold in Regimental kit shops - apparently it sucked. - Nyles