| Specifications | |
| Caliber | 9mm |
| Cartridge | 9x19mm Parabellum |
| Length | 851mm |
| Barrel length | 203mm |
| Weight | 4,34kg |
| Rate of fire | Cíclico 600rpm |
| Initial Velocity of Projectile | 380m/s |
| Effective range | 150m |
With the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, the Royal Air Force sought to develop a new submachine gun for the defense of airfields. There was no time to develop a new weapon and decided to develop one from the German submachine MP28/II. The period in which the Lanchester was developed was so desperate that the Royal Navy has also adopted the weapon and that eventually become the largest user of it.
The copy of MP28/II was called Lanchester due to the man responsible for developing the weapon in Sterling Armament Company in Dagenham, George Lanchester. The Lanchester has emerged as a reliable weapon that suited the navy operations. The gun could be provided with a bayonet, it became useful in approaches in the enemy vessels, and was able to fire different types of ammunition. Its magazin included a useful amount of 50 ammunition. The gun was capable of firing in single shot mode or in automatic fire mode. This model was the Mk I but the model Mk * I only had the option of shooting automatic and many Mk I were converted to Mk I *.
The copy that was the Lanchester proved good in service and was very helpful to the Royal Navy. The last examples of Lanchester were retired in the 1970s. The weapon was produced between 1941 and 1945 being 74,579 produced by Sterling, 16,990 by Greener and 3,900 by Boss.
