Breitbart News sat down with Česká zbrojovka (aka CZ Firearms) CEO Jan Zajic and marketing/PR director Jakub Sondel to discuss the significance of the German Army adopting their 9mm pistol platform and the subsequent benefits for concealed carriers in the USA.
In December 2025, news of CZ’s contract with the German Army broke: Their P-10 platform pistol was selected to serve as the German Army’s new sidearm.
The P-10s that will be provided to the German Army will be built under the designation of P-13. The P-13 is based on the striker-fired CZ P-10 C OR (Optics Ready) pistol, which is renowned for its durability and will be manufactured with Flat Dark Earth finish.
We asked Zajic and Sondel what it was like to have the German Army select a Czech Republic firearms maker over so many German-based pistol options, and they spoke of the “happiness” of knowing “there will be a No. 1 pistol in the hands of every German Army soldier.”
They explained some of the process of securing the contract with the German Army, noting that CZ had “to survive being on a long list, then a short list.” They indicated the news that CZ made the short list was “really exciting because those charged with the job of securing a sidearm for the German Army took a very disciplined and diligent approach to selecting the pistol.”
Zajic and Sondel said the moment CZ was informed their pistol had been selected was “emotionally very big” because the company has “never, ever, done anything like this.”
They spoke of CZ’s “great successes” with various police around the world, contracts with Brazil, pistols for Malaysia, etc., but noted that the contract with the German Army marks an entirely new era.
We discussed the process of fine-tuning the P-13 offering for the German Army, and Zajic and Sondel pointed to CZ’s military successes with the Bren rifle, which is now in its third generation. They explained that feedback on that rifle series–over the past 15 years–has allowed them to continue to hone and improve the platform, as the military use has given them real-world feedback on how the Bren performs in the elements, under stress, and in combat.
They particularly noted that Ukrainian forces are using the Bren in their war with Russia and this exposes the rifle to heat and cold, rain and mud, and so many other variables, and CZ receives “fantastic feedback from the battlefield.”
Zajic and Sondel said CZ took in all the feedback on the rifle platform–that they “seriously applied it”–so that “Bren 3 is really one level higher.”
We shifted gears to discuss their pistols for concealed carriers in the USA and they noted that CZ takes the same approach in the pursuit of personal defense as they take with guns designed for national defense. “The quality and reliability” is continually in focus as they respond to the feedback of consumers as they did to the feedback of militaries regarding the P-13 and Bren.
They noted how they take all the features that are most praised by consumers and work to pack all of them into every gun, while also making sure to take advantage of all new technologies in their concealed carry platforms.
Zajic and Sondel said, “When you need a gun, when you really need a gun, when you are in a critical situation, then you need a gun you can 100 percent rely on and that is what we are determined to deliver.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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