The ghosts of the supernova machine

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Призраки сверхнового автомата

Why arms companies cannot create “rifle of the future”

Leading manufacturers of weapons not just announced the creation of “rifles of the future”, but for the last 30-40 years, none of the revolutionary concepts did not reach mass production. Action in the conditions of local conflicts and antiterrorist operations call for new solutions in small arms.

“Smart rifle”, guided bullets and rifles firing caseless ammo could be called “concept-bodies”, similar to concept cars in the auto industry. Extreme model, which rolled off the most daring ideas, but little use for the “roads” of General use.

In the late 80-ies of the last century, the revolution in “strelkovka” promised American program ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle, advanced combat rifle). It was a response to a military requirement to increase the effectiveness of individual small arms at least twice, compared with standing armed with the M16A2 rifle (in Russian classification — machine). As estimated by experts, the shooter in combat hit the target at a distance of 40 meters with a probability of 100 percent, and at a distance of 260 metres — with a probability of only 10 percent.

The program was planned to test several new concepts that promise including to increase the probability of hitting the target with one shot. Their samples for the competition was represented by four companies: the German Heckler & Koch, the Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch and two American firms — Colt and AAI.

“Quick-firing cuckoo clock”

American gunsmiths were conservative: Colt offered slightly modified the M16 chambered for 5.56 mm when loaded with two bullets, and the company AAI is a traditional layout rifle ammunition under the sub-caliber arrow with a bullet.

But the German concept G11 (developed in the mid 80-ies) from Heckler & Koch was truly revolutionary. Fantastic design plastic case for the rifle resembled an elongated parallelepiped with the handle fire control. Unique caseless cartridge — unit of compressed powder, in which the “recessed” bullet caliber 4.7 mm. An unusual device: the scheme bullpup (fire selector control is located in front of the store and USM), 45-local store placed over the barrel, ammunition it was fed into the chamber is the breech vertically downward, after which the chamber was turned 90 degrees, the cartridge was on the line of the barrel and was shot. The barrel, the breech and the store mounted on one base, which was moving inside the case, so — called carriage scheme (similar to that used on the Russian an-94). When shooting a fixed place in three rounds, the whole system came to the rear position only after the third shot, and only then the shooter felt the recoil.

This increases the accuracy of fire, but design complexity was prohibitive for the military sample. “I was holding a rifle G11, held under the program of the ACR, for me it was a profound shock, — says the weapons expert Maxim Popenker. Is a very complex mechanism with a large number of springs, gears and other things, enclosed in a thin plastic case that you could push your fingers”. For design features the brainchild of Heckler & Koch received an informal nickname “quick-firing cuckoo clock”.

Призраки сверхнового автомата

Heckler & Koch G11

Photo: Neuwieser / Flickr

And German engineers were unable to solve the problem of breakthrough of gases between the chamber and barrel and the problem of overheating of the munition in the chamber during intensive firing. The resource system was low — about six thousand shots (for comparison, the gross resource of the barrel AK-74 — 15 thousand shots). Finally, the fragility of the caseless cartridge. As noted in the report of the former expert Heckler & Koch Jim Schatz (Jim Schatz), a blow that was safe for the cartridge with a metal sleeve could crack the caseless ammunition, or, worse, cause cracking, and then the cartridge was broken up at the time of disilane in the chamber.

Russian experts familiar with the project claim that the futility G11 was obvious from the very beginning on it. There was even talk that the whole “caseless theme” was started in the West only in order to force the Soviet military-industrial complex to waste time and money on research in a knowingly dead-end direction.

The Germans themselves in the 90-ies quietly shut the program down, citing the high cost of transition to a new caseless cartridge and its incompatibility with NATO standards.

Grenade instead of bullets

Another “nail” ACR is the Austrian Steyr rifle from a specially created “competition”. The concept of lay-piercing ammunition — lightweight, less than one gram, tungsten arrow with a length of 41 mm and a diameter of half a millimeter. Her initial velocity was approximately 1500 meters per second. The weapons were arranged according to the scheme bullpup (like the G-11), plastic case futuristic design is broken down into two parts. The shutter, or the breech with the chamber, moves forward-backward, and up and down. When the rifle is cocked, the breech is pushed down, on a level with the upper cartridge in the store. When you press the shutter special pusher pushing a cartridge from the store forward in the chamber, the breech under the influence of a fighting spring is coming up and when alignment with the axis of the trunk is shot.

Steyr ACR fared well at the shooting range, but could not provide a two-fold superiority over the M16. In addition, all of arrowhead ammunition is a common drawback — after the bullet from a trunk takes off detachable container/tray, which is a threat to their own soldiers in front of the shooter. Finally, the potential advantages of bullets swept did not cover the huge costs of their implementation.

Призраки сверхнового автомата

Steyr ACR

Frame: YouTube video / Jaglavak Military

As a result, the ACR project was abandoned, and the U.S. military was already thinking about the transition from experiments with high-precision small-caliber bullets to the shells. The authors of the new program Objective Weapon believed that the primary means of defeat on the battlefield in the twenty-first century will be a small-caliber self-loading grenade launcher module with a wide range of “smart” munitions. Because the high-precision the ball inches from the goal, no harm in him, and a grenade which exploded in the meter, hit her. Soon the company Heckler & Koch and Alliant Techsystems, presented the joint development — системуХМ29 OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon). This “hybrid” slightly modified G36 rifles, which the bottom was attached to a semi-automatic 20 mm grenade launcher, grouped according to the scheme bullpup. Box store was equipped with 20 grenades with remote detonation. The entire complex was operated by one trigger.

A separate module was the fire control system, consisting of day and night sights, laser rangefinder and ballistic calculator (he also determined the time of detonation of the grenade).

Призраки сверхнового автомата

ХМ29 OICW

Photo: kienthuc.net.vn

The developers hoped that ХМ29 will be about five times more effective than M16 with M203 underbarrel grenade launcher. With the cost of one production sample will not exceed 10 thousand dollars (for comparison, the M16A2 is worth about $ 700), and the cost of 20-millimeter grenades — $ 25.

A failed revolution

At ХМ29 it became clear that the complex will not replace the traditional rifle — the weapon was too bulky and heavy, the shot is too expensive, and a little ammunition. As a result, the Americans decided to modify the grenade launcher module, increasing the caliber of 25 millimeters. But before the United States turned down experiments with OICW, such systems managed to get the Chinese and South Koreans — apparently in order not to lag behind the fashionable trend.

Very bad combined weapon was developed in the last five or six years, and in Russia, as reported by the chief editor of the magazine “Kalashnikov” Mikhail Degtyarev. For example, there was an attempt to create a modular design of the Dragunov sniper rifle and a Kalashnikov. Developed and 12.7 mm ammunition with a remote detonation, which would be implemented using wire moulded into the casing.

Subtotal of programs to establish the “rifle of the future” experts formulate so: the revolution in industry is possible only with the emergence of new ways of throwing a shell or a fundamentally new methods of hitting the target. Simply put, when it replaced the beam rifle will come “Blaster”. And while the main areas of work designers will be ergonomics and the design of weapons, the creation of so-called modular and multicaliber rifles (when quick change barrel and slide allows you to switch to another cartridge).

Aviation technology

The most promising trend in “strelkovka” — enhancements to existing systems through new materials and sighting systems. So, without changing the characteristics of the weapons, increase the efficiency of its use. This will allow to tighten up to date about legacy systems and extend the possibilities of today.

For example, the concern “Kalashnikov” has developed a special kit for upgrading the AK-74 (improves the ergonomics of the weapon, allows you to install modern sights, tactical lights, etc.), which, according to marketing Director of the company Vladimir Dmitriev, increases the efficiency of the machine in half. Today, the group executes the order on modernization of the arms lying in the warehouses of the defense Ministry.

But a real revolution in the industry promises growth in smart electronic sighting systems, a similar technology is used now in aviation. Military aviation was made by the donor of the technology for the weapons industry. For example, collimator sights, which stood on the fighters since the Second world war, and at the turn of XX-XXI centuries began to take root in small arms. According to various estimates, this sight increases the effectiveness of fire in half to two times. A “smart” sighting system will allow the middle arrow to beat an expert sniper.

Призраки сверхнового автомата

The TrackingPoint Rifle

Photo: tracking-point.com

At the end of 2015, the American company TrackingPoint (operates in the segment of the hunting and sniper weapons) has announced that its “smart rifle”won one of the best shooters of America, multiple champion of the National rifle Association USA (NRA) Platta Bruce (Bruce Piatt). His opponent, the operator of the TrackingPoint rifle, was Taya Kyle (Taya Kyle), widow of Chris Kyle — one of the most respected snipers in the USA. Arrows competed in three classes of weapons: conventional, high precision and sniper. Platt used M4A1, M110 and М2010 scopes and rangefinder. Kyle was shot with different models TrackingPoint. Shots were fired from the seated, lying down, with knees. The target would move randomly, and the arrows were created for more stressful conditions — fog, explosions. In the end, Bruce was struck by 58.6 per cent of targets, Taya — 100 percent.

Призраки сверхнового автомата

Taya Kyle with the rifle TrackingPoint

Frame: YouTube video

The complex consists of a TrackingPoint rifle is quite traditional and sighting system including a television camera, ballistic calculator, laser rangefinder, a set of sensors (environment, position of arms), a computer with the Linux operating system, the block interfaces and the display, which displays images from the camera and the computer. The operating principle of the system is as follows: the shooter presses the trigger and according to the prompts of the Navigator accompanies a purpose, and the rifle itself chooses the right moment to shot.

While such systems are too expensive (complex TrackingPoint is an average of 10-15 thousand dollars) and sufficiently reliable for placement on combat arms. However, experts believe that over time, “smart” scopes will first apply at an army sniper rifle, and then, perhaps, and mass samples.

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