The old ‘Cetme’ rifle, known in Spain by those who did their military service, has reappeared in Ukraine. This weapon disappeared from the Spanish Army in 1999 due to the maintenance and operation problems it presented. Now, they are part of the arsenal used by the State Border Service of Ukraine, after the Ministry of Defense donated them to Zelensky, although they have only been seen in a few parades.
The ‘Cetme’ takes its name from the Center for Special Materials Technical Studies, where it began to be manufactured in the 1950s. The objective was for Spain to have its own machine gun, since the isolation imposed by democratic countries on the dictatorship of Franco was threatening his arms supply. At first, the so-called ‘Cetme A’ was created, a heavy model of wood and steel. This weapon came to be used in the Ifni war in Morocco. In the 80s, a more advanced model was created with a smaller caliber -it went from 7.62 to 5.56-. This ‘Cetme L’ had a stock and other components made of plastic.
aiming problems
In these models, increasing maintenance and operation problems were detected. The barrel would overheat from the shots, making the weapon unreliable and hitting the target an impossible mission. The magazines, in turn, were easily blocked, so the possibility of the weapon jamming was very high. In the 1990s, the Army decided to stop using the ‘Cetme’ and a substitute was sought. The more advanced HK G36, made in Germany, was acquired.
The old model ‘Cetme’ have arrived in Ukraine this month of August. The Defense Ministry, to questions from this newspaper, has not provided information on how many rifles have been sent or how the shipment was carried out. Neither about what it means to give away material that in Spain is not considered operational for the troops. The spokespersons have limited themselves to reporting on a meeting that Minister Margarita Robles held a videoconference meeting with the State Border Service of Ukraine to discuss cooperation in August of this year.
At the moment, the Spanish ‘Cetme’ has only been seen in the parades that the border guards have carried out in the streets of Ukraine. This unit, in addition to monitoring the country’s territorial limits, is also participating in the front against the Russian invader. In the images of these confrontations that the border service has shown, the ‘Cetme’ does not appear, but they use the AK endowment of the Ukrainian Army.
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