armoury
ICS CES-P MP-5 + CXP-MARS PDW9
SMG OR PDW?
THE FUTURE OF
AIRSOFT “9MM”...
AEGS WITH A SHORT OVERALL LENGTH ARE IDEAL FOR THE NUMEROUS CQB/CQC SITES THAT HAVE STARTED UP IN
RECENT YEARS AND THIS MONTH BILL DELVES INTO A QUESTION THAT’S AS VALID IN THE “BB WORLD” AS IT IS IN THE
REAL ONE, BY LOOKING AT TWO OF THE LATEST RELEASES FROM INDUSTRY VETERAN ICS THAT SHOW CHANGING
DIRECTIONS AND NEW INNOVATIONS.
The SMG is dead, long live the PDW! That is probably
a contentious way to start a review of two new AEGs
but when I received the latest models from ICS to
get on the range and put through their paces, it got me
to thinking… Just how valid is a traditional pistol-calibre
sub-machine gun these days when you can have a PDW
(Personal Defence Weapon) or
SBR (short-barrelled rifle) not
only in the same calibre, but in a
carbine/rifle calibre too!
To get the ball rolling, let me
first look at the two excellent
models that I was sent to test and
evaluate; namely the new CES-P
MP-5 model and the CXP-MARS
PDW9, both of which were due
to launch at IWA earlier this
year. Of course, IWA 2020 never
happened, so many of the models
we were due to see for the first
time there have come onto the
market with little fanfare, which
is a great shame.
However, now they are
beginning to feed into the market I spoke to my old mate
Frank at Fire Support and, in direct collaboration with ICS
themselves, I was soon able to acquire one of each of the
new models to have a look at and run through their paces
on the range. I’ve used ICS AEGs pretty much from the time
the company came into being and, largely, my experience
“FIRST OFF THOUGH, BEFORE
I GET INTO THE NEW AEGS
THEMSELVES, LET ME LOOK
BACK AT MY ORIGINAL QUESTION
AND PUT IT IN EVEN CLEARER
TERMS… WITH THE RISE OF THE
PDW AND SBR IS THE TIME OF
THE SMG DONE AND OVER?”
with them has been extremely positive, so my expectations
of what they produce these days is very high indeed.
ICS have always produced great-looking AEGs, both
historical models that offer great accuracy in their
replication but, more lately, some super rifles and carbines
of their own design that have added some real flair to the
product line overall. If you want
a specific model for MilSim or
“historic airsoft” then ICS can
probably provide that for you, but
if you fancy something thoroughly
modern then they can definitely
do that! Add to this that ICS
AEGs have always been insanely
easy to work on thanks to that
original split-gearbox design
and you have the ingredients for
success right there!
And with the two models
under the spotlight here this is
shown in spades, with a classic
SMG originating in the 1960s and
a completely modern PDW that
could have been posted on an AR
manufacturer’s website yesterday!
First off though, before I get into the new AEGs
themselves, let me look back at my original question and
put it in even clearer terms… With the rise of the PDW and
SBR is the time of the SMG done and over?
8
JULY 2020