Automatic and current machine of the future
Not so long ago, the American laboratory SNL presented a draft of a homing bullet. The developers claim that the accuracy of the new ammunition has increased more than forty times. True, the name of the cartridge, with which the controlled bullet was compared, was not called. Marketing and promotion or real numbers? At the end of last year, the world learned about the CompBullet project - a bullet with holes. Due to the bypass of the powder gases from the space behind the bullet into the gap between the wall of the barrel and the bullet, it is claimed that CompBullet has a greater initial velocity than the bullets of a similar caliber. But even this is not all smooth: for example, greater speed can be explained by the lower weight of the bullet, resulting from sampling a certain amount of metal. Nevertheless, with all its flaws, both projects of promising ammunition are still being tested and refined.
Today...
At the moment, there is such a situation in which the main number of innovations in small arms weapons relate to ammunition and “body kit” - sights, butts, silencers, etc. Actually, weapons have long passed from the period of constant inventions of new technologies to the stage of improving existing solutions. Take at least Kalashnikov assault rifles. If we compare the early designs that Mikhail Timofeevich presented for the competition in the second half of the forties, you can see constant improvements, and even cardinal changes in the design. For example, the receiver of the very first prototype AK 1946 was disassembled into two parts almost on the same principle as the German rifle StG-44 or the later American M-16. The AK trigger mechanism was located in a separate unit located in the lower part of the receiver. On the next prototype, Kalashnikov made the top box lid familiar to everyone. Similar changes have been made to the mechanics of the machine. But after the adoption of the AK assault rifle, all the changes concerned exclusively technological issues - replacing milling with stamping, etc. The subsequent models of Kalashnikov assault rifles were slightly different from their predecessors, and again the differences were in materials and manufacturing technologies. The exception to this rule, perhaps, is only a line of machine guns and light machine guns, adopted for service in the early 70's. Kalashnikov’s weapon with the numbers “74” in the name received a new low-pulse cartridge of 5,45x39 mm, which required certain changes in design. At the same time, changes in the principle of action did not follow again. Not so long ago, another descendant of the legendary AK was demonstrated. This time, the development of a new model consisted not only in the addition of technological and "cosmetic" changes. The trigger mechanism was added the ability to fire with a cut-off of three shots, when the magazine was empty, the shutter became delayed, and the receiver received a new design without side slots and with a new lid mount. It would seem that there are not so many innovations, but they, according to the authors, will affect the quality of the shooting.
Roughly the same situation has developed in foreign countries. For fifty years of its service, the design of the American M16 automatic rifle practically did not change. The production technologies were updated, and in addition, the usability increased - for this, American gunsmiths constantly "conjure" with the design of the butt and forend. Other foreign assault rifles can also be cited as an example of the "continuity" of the design solutions of small arms. FN SCAR, Heckler & Koch G36, Colt M4 or Beretta AR-70/90 are built according to the same scheme and have almost no major design differences. It should be noted that there is a version of the SCAR rifle called FN HAMR, which differs from the base model by the presence of a special thermal control mechanism. The fact is that the HAMR was made as a rifle with the ability to be used as a light machine gun. So it was necessary to introduce a special mechanism, which, when the chamber reaches a certain temperature, blocks part of the bolt in the rear position, which enhances the ventilation of the receiver. The rest of the Belgian-American rifle is a typical representative of the "genus" of automatic machines with gas mechanics.
It must be admitted that all of the above refers mainly to serial weapons. It is understandable, because to establish the production of a completely new sample, at least, is not easy. So it turns out that completely or almost completely new constructions, for example, AN-94, AEK-971 or AK-107 (automatic mechanics with balanced mechanics), if produced, then only in small test batches. The main problem of new designs is the complexity of the full transition to their production. However, new systems are definitely needed. The fact that the fight against terrorism has sharply intensified, which can be managed only by well-trained and equipped special forces, can have a positive effect on the further development of automatic weapons. A professional fighter of today is unthinkable without modern high-quality weapons. As for the economic side of such a business, by definition, there are few such fighters and, as a result, the production of weapons for them will not require a radical restructuring of all weapons production. In turn, these enterprises can continue the release of already existing types of small arms using the method of constant small improvements already mastered. Such weapons will be sufficient for regular armies, and over time, factories can be gradually transferred to new types of machine guns.
Probably, in this way it will be possible to “reconcile” two mutually exclusive concepts concerning small arms. According to one of them, the machine gun is a high-precision professional tool for performing combat missions, a kind of scalpel for war, while the other one implies a machine gun as relatively simple to manufacture and operate, but an effective weapon for a mass army. It should be noted that without finding a compromise between these concepts, the Ministry of Defense of a conditional country will have to choose from too expensive weapons for the mass army and poorly adapted for special forces. Not an easy choice, because it concerns not only money, but also the lives of fighters.
...and tomorrow
The main trend in the development of small arms in recent years has been the emphasis on the so-called body kit. Now there is a rapid development of sighting devices, improving the design of butts, correcting the shape of the forearm, adding rifle grenade launchers, etc. The apotheosis of this trend in the development of weapons can be considered the OICW and AICW programs created in the USA and Australia, respectively. The program OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon - Individual weapon for various tasks) assumed the creation of an automatic-grenade launcher complex that meets modern and future requirements. In particular, the customer wanted to get an electronic system of aiming.
As a result, the Alliance Techsystem XM29 project was announced the winner. It consisted of an aiming device with an optical sight and a ballistic computer, a 5,56-mm assault rifle and a 20-mm automatic grenade launcher. All firing mechanisms were placed in a single package in a modular scheme, and a large "tube" of a computerized sight was located on the top of the receiver of a grenade launcher. In the future, it was planned to equip the XM29 with a data exchange system with weapons of other fighters. According to rumors, it was assumed that in the future the subunit commander could even receive a video signal from the sights of his subordinates and have more complete information about the situation on the battlefield. However, this did not happen. In the middle of the two thousandth, the 20-mm grenades were considered to be inadequate, and the OICW was divided into two projects: the OICW Increment 1 modular machine gun and the OICW Increment 25 automatic 2-mm grenade launcher. A grenade launcher with a large caliber was brought to mind, but this did not affect the fate of the program positively. It is currently frozen. The main reason is related to the price of the weapon: the automatic-grenade launcher complex of mass production was supposed to cost a little less than ten thousand dollars, and the hand-made pre-production 25-mm grenades cost almost a thousand "conventional units". Apparently, the military did not want to pay such a high price for weapons of a very, very remote perspective.
In the middle of the two thousandth, the Australian company DSTO began testing its version of the weapon of the future. The AICW (Advanced Infantry Combat Weapon) program, like the American OICW, is to create an automatic grenade launcher system. However, the Australians, as if not wanting to have problems "on all fronts," took the Austrian rifle Steyr AUG, or rather its licensed Australian variant F88A2, as the basis for the rifle part of the complex. After some modifications to its design, a 40 mm Metal Storm grenade launcher was installed on the upper side of the Austrian assault rifle. It is interesting in that in one “pipe” there is a store for three grenades, a chamber and a barrel. It is alleged that in the future, for the Metal Storm, interchangeable barrels of various calibers will be created, which will quickly change the configuration of weapons for use with existing ammunition. Fire control grenade launcher is carried out using a standard trigger automatic. To do this, instead of the native push-button fuse AUG, a three-position flag was installed with the positions "fuse", "automatic" and "grenade launcher". Here the trigger mechanism of the Austrian rifle turned out to be very handy, in which the change in the fire regimes is regulated by the force of pressing the trigger: a small press leads to a single shot, and a “hooked” into the handle leads to firing a burst. Finally, on the Picatinny rail on the upper side of the grenade launcher, an electronic sighting system is installed. Its details are so far a mystery behind seven seals, but in appearance one can draw the appropriate conclusions. Most likely, the Australians took the collimator sight as the basis and, possibly, added an electronic ballistic computer to it, capable of automatically changing the position of the aiming mark depending on the type of ammunition. This year, it is planned to begin military trials of AICW in special units of the Austrian armed forces. We wait News.
Nevertheless, the automatic part of the OICW and AICW are well-known units with a gas engine and a NATO standard 5,56x45 mm low-impulse unitary cartridge. Back in the 60s of the last century, work began in the arms circles to abandon the modern design of the cartridge. It was proposed to switch to a caseless cartridge. It was assumed that due to the absence of a metal sleeve, such cartridges would be cheaper and lighter than similar ones with sleeves. The only example of small arms chambered for a caseless cartridge, which reached at least a small series, was the German Heckler & Koch G11 automatic rifle.
Especially for her was created a new cartridge without a sleeve. The question of weight was really resolved in favor of the sleeveless cartridge 4,7х33 mm (the second figure indicated its total length) - the magazine of the same mass as the standard NATO on 30 cartridges managed to fit fifty caseless cartridges. But with the price to figure it out and failed. The 4,7x33 mm cartridge has never been produced on the scale in which it could be compared with high-volume ammunition, for example, with the same 5,56x45 mm. The design of the cartridge is relatively simple: the bullet is pressed into a powdery piece, the surface of which is covered with a combustible varnish. Thus, all parts of the cartridge except the bullet fade when fired and there is nothing left to throw out of the weapon, which simplifies the design of the machine gun. In the middle of the 80, the G11 was supposed to replace the G3 rifles, the main weapon of the Bundeswehr at that time. The rifle had a bullpup design and automation with a vapor system. A magazine with fifty cartridges (in the first copies, later the capacity was reduced to 45) was located above the barrel, and the cartridges were placed vertically with the bullet down. Before the shot, a special cylinder with a chamber chamber turned, leading the cavity to an upright position. Under its own weight, the cartridge fell into the chamber, and the cylinder turned on the 90 ° in the opposite direction and combined the chamber with the barrel. Then the powder charge ignited, after which the cylinder with the chamber repeated its movement. In the event of a misfire, the shooter could manually rotate the cylinder, thanks to which the new cartridge through the special tube would push out the non-actuated rifle. All the mechanics, USM, the barrel and the G11 store were mounted on a single frame that could move inside the body of the weapon. Due to this, it was possible to significantly reduce returns. By the end of 80-x "Hekler-Koch" announced their readiness to begin mass production of new weapons. By 92-mu was made less than a thousand copies of the machine, which went on military trials. But the rifle, which at one time was considered as a unique super-weapon, remained a small-scale experiment. United Germany could not afford such an expensive pleasure as the rearmament of all armed forces to a new machine gun, and, moreover, the cartridge 4,7х33 mm did not fit into NATO standards for ammunition. The project has been closed. The HK G36 was created as a new rifle for the Bundeswehr.
In the middle of the two thousandth, Americans held a series of consultations with the Germans on the specifics of the caseless ammunition. After receiving the necessary information, the United States began its program for Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (Small Arms Technology). According to the results of a number of studies and experiments, the Americans decided not to use a cartridge consisting only of a bullet and powder briquette. They came to the conclusion that the classical construction of a unitary cartridge with a polymeric burning sleeve would be much more advantageous both in weight and in combat. In particular, they are now able to achieve a forty percent weight saving with a 5,56 caliber millimeter bullet. At the moment, research is underway on the topic of liner materials, which, when burned, will increase the momentum of powder gases. More details from the Americans have not yet been achieved.
Few conclusions
As you can see, in the coming years in the field of machine guns you should not wait for a serious departure from the classic firearms with a unitary cartridge. Great prospects now have not alternative types of small arms, but sights, enhancing convenience elements, various electronics, etc. And judging by the pace of development of electronics, this is really an area where serious breakthroughs are possible in the very near future. Well, bezgilzovye cartridges, universal automatic grenade launchers with built-in ballistic computers and similar devices so far remain exclusively laboratory and field wonders. So many more years in the next comparison of modern small arms will be flashed the familiar indices "AK", "M16" and others like them.
Today...
At the moment, there is such a situation in which the main number of innovations in small arms weapons relate to ammunition and “body kit” - sights, butts, silencers, etc. Actually, weapons have long passed from the period of constant inventions of new technologies to the stage of improving existing solutions. Take at least Kalashnikov assault rifles. If we compare the early designs that Mikhail Timofeevich presented for the competition in the second half of the forties, you can see constant improvements, and even cardinal changes in the design. For example, the receiver of the very first prototype AK 1946 was disassembled into two parts almost on the same principle as the German rifle StG-44 or the later American M-16. The AK trigger mechanism was located in a separate unit located in the lower part of the receiver. On the next prototype, Kalashnikov made the top box lid familiar to everyone. Similar changes have been made to the mechanics of the machine. But after the adoption of the AK assault rifle, all the changes concerned exclusively technological issues - replacing milling with stamping, etc. The subsequent models of Kalashnikov assault rifles were slightly different from their predecessors, and again the differences were in materials and manufacturing technologies. The exception to this rule, perhaps, is only a line of machine guns and light machine guns, adopted for service in the early 70's. Kalashnikov’s weapon with the numbers “74” in the name received a new low-pulse cartridge of 5,45x39 mm, which required certain changes in design. At the same time, changes in the principle of action did not follow again. Not so long ago, another descendant of the legendary AK was demonstrated. This time, the development of a new model consisted not only in the addition of technological and "cosmetic" changes. The trigger mechanism was added the ability to fire with a cut-off of three shots, when the magazine was empty, the shutter became delayed, and the receiver received a new design without side slots and with a new lid mount. It would seem that there are not so many innovations, but they, according to the authors, will affect the quality of the shooting.
Roughly the same situation has developed in foreign countries. For fifty years of its service, the design of the American M16 automatic rifle practically did not change. The production technologies were updated, and in addition, the usability increased - for this, American gunsmiths constantly "conjure" with the design of the butt and forend. Other foreign assault rifles can also be cited as an example of the "continuity" of the design solutions of small arms. FN SCAR, Heckler & Koch G36, Colt M4 or Beretta AR-70/90 are built according to the same scheme and have almost no major design differences. It should be noted that there is a version of the SCAR rifle called FN HAMR, which differs from the base model by the presence of a special thermal control mechanism. The fact is that the HAMR was made as a rifle with the ability to be used as a light machine gun. So it was necessary to introduce a special mechanism, which, when the chamber reaches a certain temperature, blocks part of the bolt in the rear position, which enhances the ventilation of the receiver. The rest of the Belgian-American rifle is a typical representative of the "genus" of automatic machines with gas mechanics.
SCAR FN HAMR
It must be admitted that all of the above refers mainly to serial weapons. It is understandable, because to establish the production of a completely new sample, at least, is not easy. So it turns out that completely or almost completely new constructions, for example, AN-94, AEK-971 or AK-107 (automatic mechanics with balanced mechanics), if produced, then only in small test batches. The main problem of new designs is the complexity of the full transition to their production. However, new systems are definitely needed. The fact that the fight against terrorism has sharply intensified, which can be managed only by well-trained and equipped special forces, can have a positive effect on the further development of automatic weapons. A professional fighter of today is unthinkable without modern high-quality weapons. As for the economic side of such a business, by definition, there are few such fighters and, as a result, the production of weapons for them will not require a radical restructuring of all weapons production. In turn, these enterprises can continue the release of already existing types of small arms using the method of constant small improvements already mastered. Such weapons will be sufficient for regular armies, and over time, factories can be gradually transferred to new types of machine guns.
Probably, in this way it will be possible to “reconcile” two mutually exclusive concepts concerning small arms. According to one of them, the machine gun is a high-precision professional tool for performing combat missions, a kind of scalpel for war, while the other one implies a machine gun as relatively simple to manufacture and operate, but an effective weapon for a mass army. It should be noted that without finding a compromise between these concepts, the Ministry of Defense of a conditional country will have to choose from too expensive weapons for the mass army and poorly adapted for special forces. Not an easy choice, because it concerns not only money, but also the lives of fighters.
...and tomorrow
The main trend in the development of small arms in recent years has been the emphasis on the so-called body kit. Now there is a rapid development of sighting devices, improving the design of butts, correcting the shape of the forearm, adding rifle grenade launchers, etc. The apotheosis of this trend in the development of weapons can be considered the OICW and AICW programs created in the USA and Australia, respectively. The program OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon - Individual weapon for various tasks) assumed the creation of an automatic-grenade launcher complex that meets modern and future requirements. In particular, the customer wanted to get an electronic system of aiming.
As a result, the Alliance Techsystem XM29 project was announced the winner. It consisted of an aiming device with an optical sight and a ballistic computer, a 5,56-mm assault rifle and a 20-mm automatic grenade launcher. All firing mechanisms were placed in a single package in a modular scheme, and a large "tube" of a computerized sight was located on the top of the receiver of a grenade launcher. In the future, it was planned to equip the XM29 with a data exchange system with weapons of other fighters. According to rumors, it was assumed that in the future the subunit commander could even receive a video signal from the sights of his subordinates and have more complete information about the situation on the battlefield. However, this did not happen. In the middle of the two thousandth, the 20-mm grenades were considered to be inadequate, and the OICW was divided into two projects: the OICW Increment 1 modular machine gun and the OICW Increment 25 automatic 2-mm grenade launcher. A grenade launcher with a large caliber was brought to mind, but this did not affect the fate of the program positively. It is currently frozen. The main reason is related to the price of the weapon: the automatic-grenade launcher complex of mass production was supposed to cost a little less than ten thousand dollars, and the hand-made pre-production 25-mm grenades cost almost a thousand "conventional units". Apparently, the military did not want to pay such a high price for weapons of a very, very remote perspective.
In the middle of the two thousandth, the Australian company DSTO began testing its version of the weapon of the future. The AICW (Advanced Infantry Combat Weapon) program, like the American OICW, is to create an automatic grenade launcher system. However, the Australians, as if not wanting to have problems "on all fronts," took the Austrian rifle Steyr AUG, or rather its licensed Australian variant F88A2, as the basis for the rifle part of the complex. After some modifications to its design, a 40 mm Metal Storm grenade launcher was installed on the upper side of the Austrian assault rifle. It is interesting in that in one “pipe” there is a store for three grenades, a chamber and a barrel. It is alleged that in the future, for the Metal Storm, interchangeable barrels of various calibers will be created, which will quickly change the configuration of weapons for use with existing ammunition. Fire control grenade launcher is carried out using a standard trigger automatic. To do this, instead of the native push-button fuse AUG, a three-position flag was installed with the positions "fuse", "automatic" and "grenade launcher". Here the trigger mechanism of the Austrian rifle turned out to be very handy, in which the change in the fire regimes is regulated by the force of pressing the trigger: a small press leads to a single shot, and a “hooked” into the handle leads to firing a burst. Finally, on the Picatinny rail on the upper side of the grenade launcher, an electronic sighting system is installed. Its details are so far a mystery behind seven seals, but in appearance one can draw the appropriate conclusions. Most likely, the Australians took the collimator sight as the basis and, possibly, added an electronic ballistic computer to it, capable of automatically changing the position of the aiming mark depending on the type of ammunition. This year, it is planned to begin military trials of AICW in special units of the Austrian armed forces. We wait News.
Nevertheless, the automatic part of the OICW and AICW are well-known units with a gas engine and a NATO standard 5,56x45 mm low-impulse unitary cartridge. Back in the 60s of the last century, work began in the arms circles to abandon the modern design of the cartridge. It was proposed to switch to a caseless cartridge. It was assumed that due to the absence of a metal sleeve, such cartridges would be cheaper and lighter than similar ones with sleeves. The only example of small arms chambered for a caseless cartridge, which reached at least a small series, was the German Heckler & Koch G11 automatic rifle.
Especially for her was created a new cartridge without a sleeve. The question of weight was really resolved in favor of the sleeveless cartridge 4,7х33 mm (the second figure indicated its total length) - the magazine of the same mass as the standard NATO on 30 cartridges managed to fit fifty caseless cartridges. But with the price to figure it out and failed. The 4,7x33 mm cartridge has never been produced on the scale in which it could be compared with high-volume ammunition, for example, with the same 5,56x45 mm. The design of the cartridge is relatively simple: the bullet is pressed into a powdery piece, the surface of which is covered with a combustible varnish. Thus, all parts of the cartridge except the bullet fade when fired and there is nothing left to throw out of the weapon, which simplifies the design of the machine gun. In the middle of the 80, the G11 was supposed to replace the G3 rifles, the main weapon of the Bundeswehr at that time. The rifle had a bullpup design and automation with a vapor system. A magazine with fifty cartridges (in the first copies, later the capacity was reduced to 45) was located above the barrel, and the cartridges were placed vertically with the bullet down. Before the shot, a special cylinder with a chamber chamber turned, leading the cavity to an upright position. Under its own weight, the cartridge fell into the chamber, and the cylinder turned on the 90 ° in the opposite direction and combined the chamber with the barrel. Then the powder charge ignited, after which the cylinder with the chamber repeated its movement. In the event of a misfire, the shooter could manually rotate the cylinder, thanks to which the new cartridge through the special tube would push out the non-actuated rifle. All the mechanics, USM, the barrel and the G11 store were mounted on a single frame that could move inside the body of the weapon. Due to this, it was possible to significantly reduce returns. By the end of 80-x "Hekler-Koch" announced their readiness to begin mass production of new weapons. By 92-mu was made less than a thousand copies of the machine, which went on military trials. But the rifle, which at one time was considered as a unique super-weapon, remained a small-scale experiment. United Germany could not afford such an expensive pleasure as the rearmament of all armed forces to a new machine gun, and, moreover, the cartridge 4,7х33 mm did not fit into NATO standards for ammunition. The project has been closed. The HK G36 was created as a new rifle for the Bundeswehr.
In the middle of the two thousandth, Americans held a series of consultations with the Germans on the specifics of the caseless ammunition. After receiving the necessary information, the United States began its program for Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (Small Arms Technology). According to the results of a number of studies and experiments, the Americans decided not to use a cartridge consisting only of a bullet and powder briquette. They came to the conclusion that the classical construction of a unitary cartridge with a polymeric burning sleeve would be much more advantageous both in weight and in combat. In particular, they are now able to achieve a forty percent weight saving with a 5,56 caliber millimeter bullet. At the moment, research is underway on the topic of liner materials, which, when burned, will increase the momentum of powder gases. More details from the Americans have not yet been achieved.
Few conclusions
As you can see, in the coming years in the field of machine guns you should not wait for a serious departure from the classic firearms with a unitary cartridge. Great prospects now have not alternative types of small arms, but sights, enhancing convenience elements, various electronics, etc. And judging by the pace of development of electronics, this is really an area where serious breakthroughs are possible in the very near future. Well, bezgilzovye cartridges, universal automatic grenade launchers with built-in ballistic computers and similar devices so far remain exclusively laboratory and field wonders. So many more years in the next comparison of modern small arms will be flashed the familiar indices "AK", "M16" and others like them.
Information