Iamani

   The Iamani is a Georgian submachine gun. It was a product of Delta state-owned defense company, located in Tbilisi. This weapon was designed by two Georgian engineers - Tengis Devidze and Giorgi Sukhiashvili. The name of the gun is originated from the ancient Georgian Church language and means “lethal weapon”. The Delta was established in 2010 unifying 6 scientific research centers and production facilities. It is focused on research and development of new military and products, along with production and maintenance of already well-established products. Delta also offers some of its products for civil users. Most famous product of the Delta is a Didgori family of armored vehicles that have been successfully exported overseas last couple of years.

    The Iamani submachine gun was designed as a private venture. The goal was to create an experimental Submachine Gun (SMG), which could become a future alternative to the ageing Soviet AKS-74U compact assault rifle. At the time the AKS-74U was widely used by various Georgian special operations units and law enforcement forces.

   The new submachine gun was first publicly presented by Delta at a military equipment and armament exhibition on May 26, 2015, at the Independence Day of Georgia.

   The SMG is chambered for the standard 9x19 mm ammunition. Magazine holds 30 rounds. As most submachine guns this weapon fires from an open bolt.

   This SMG is ambidextrous. It has an option of extracting the spent cartridge cases to either side. This makes it more comfortable for left-handed shooters. Charging handle can be installed on either side of the receiver. Fire mode selectors are also located on each side of the receiver. These selectors have two positions for "safe" and "automatic".

   Receiver of this weapon is made of steel alloy construction. This makes weapon more durable, though the Iamani is rather heavy for an SMG. Most modern weapon of this class are significantly lighter.

   The submachine gun is equipped with a Picatinny-type scope rail. The prototype was fitted with a collimator sight, though there were no iron sights. Also there are accessory rails under the barrel. Various accessories can be installed, such as tactical flashlights, laser pointers, additional vertical handles, as well as other accessories.

   The gun has a muzzle brake of slotted type. It reduces tossing of the barrel when the weapon is fired. Thus it slightly improves accuracy of the weapon.

   This weapon is equipped with a skeletal-type folding buttstock. It is folded on the right side of the receiver and does not block the trigger. Hence, the shooter can fire the weapon without extending the buttstock.

   Various videos were circulating on the web, demonstrating testing on the bolt action id adverse conditions. These video footages showed that this SMG successfully discharges full magazine in fully-automatic mode after being immersed into the sand, mud and water. There were also footages showing this weapon firing with the dust cover removed.

   According to the Delta's officials there was a plan to design a polymer body for this weapon. This would significantly decrease the overall weight of the weapon. However, apparently, further research and development on Iamani were suspended.

   Nowadays Iamani cannot be found even on the list of products offered by Delta. Old researchable links about this weapon were also disabled. As a result there were no production orders for this weapon. Also the Iamani was never delivered to any defense and law enforcement unit.

Article by ZAAL TCHKUASELI    Want to publish your own articles? Visit our guidelines for more information.