What combat swimmers shoot from: top 5 "submarine" machine guns and pistols

The armed forces of several countries of the world have units of combat swimmers and divers involved in operations under water. Specially designed for such units weapon for underwater shooting.

Usually units of combat swimmers and divers are strictly classified. To get into them is very difficult, the number is small, which explains the low popularity of those weapons that are used in underwater reconnaissance and sabotage (or anti-sabotage) operations. As part of the Russian Navy, these units are called "Submarine sabotage forces and assets." And from what fighting swimmers shoot.

APS-5

APS-5 - a special underwater assault rifle - is still the most famous small arms used in the Navy's MPSS. It was adopted in the Soviet era, back in 1975, but it was declassified only in 1993 at the international exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

APS-5 is capable of hitting a target at a range of 30 meters with an immersion depth of 5 m. Moreover, the firing range depends on the immersion depth. At a 40-meter depth, it is only 10 meters. The machine itself was designed to deal with underwater saboteurs and scouts of a potential enemy, as well as for self-defense from marine predators like sharks.

APS-5 can be fired with single shots and bursts. On land, it can also be used, but it is ineffective, since the firing range in air does not exceed 100 meters. This circumstance, by the way, forced the units of combat swimmers to issue 2 automatic weapons to the personnel - APS and AK.

ADS

In 2013, in the PDSS of the Russian Navy, an ADS was introduced into service - a special two-machine gun. It is designed for shooting both under water and on land. At the same time, the ADF is equipped with a switch of operation modes of the gas / water air vent mechanism. The ADF has a detachable underbarrel grenade launcher.

A bullet weighing 16 g, designed for shooting under water, can penetrate a bulletproof vest and even the bottom of a small vessel. The firing range under water, like the APS, depends on the depth of immersion: at a five-meter depth, the machine shoots at 25 meters, at a twenty-meter depth - at 18 meters.

Surfacing, an underwater saboteur may not pour water from the trunk - it will fly out during the first shot. Interestingly, the characteristics of the ADF in terms of use on land, in the air, are not worse than conventional small arms of 5,45 caliber. The grenade launcher makes the machine even more attractive for submarine units.

SPP-1

A special underwater pistol was developed at the height of the Cold War - in the 1960s, and in 1971 its mass production began for the needs of the USSR Navy PDSS. He shoots with long needle-shaped bullets of 4,5 mm caliber, while the slaughter range of the gun in air is 20 m, and in water it also depends on the depth of immersion: at a depth of 5 meters, the gun shoots up to 17 meters, when immersed at 40 meters - up to 6 meters.

SPP-1 has a block of 4 smooth trunks. They recharge at the same time, the entire operation takes only 5 seconds, which greatly simplifies the performance of tasks under water. Separate cartridges would significantly increase the equipment time of the pistol.

P11 Heckler & Koch

A German-made pistol was also developed back in the mid-1970s. He entered the arsenal of submarine sabotage units of the naval forces of NATO countries - Germany, the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, France.

Distinctive characteristics of the weapon - a block of 5 barrels, in each of which - a needle-shaped bullet of 7,62 mm caliber. When all bullets are used up, the barrel unit is thrown away. The firing range when diving 30 meters is 15 meters, and on land you can hit the target at a 30-meter distance.

Z-84

The Star Z-84 submachine gun is manufactured in Spain by Star and is able to successfully operate both under water and in the air, which makes it similar to the Russian automatic submachine gun. On land, the Z-84 is comparable in performance to most conventional submachine guns used in NATO armies. Under water, its characteristics are inferior to Russian weapons: the effective range of a submachine gun even at shallow depths is not more than 5 meters.

However, with a small firing range, the Z-84 has one very significant advantage: it is equipped with standard 9mm Parabellum cartridges, which eliminates the problems associated with the use of non-standard bullets in underwater weapons. The submachine gun is in service with the units of the Spanish Navy, other Spanish power structures, and is also supplied to other countries.

Thus, Russia (and formerly the USSR) is one of the world leaders in the field of high-quality underwater weapons. Indeed, in most foreign fleets, units of combat swimmers and divers are equipped with conventional assault rifles, pistols, submachine guns, and special weapons were developed for our Navy Navy.

Comments

[Paul Siebert]

Something I do not understand the principle of the Spanish PP Star Z-84 ...
How can a standard parabellum cartridge shoot in both environments?
Looks like a fake. That way, other countries would shoot with ordinary bullets underwater ...

[Aag]

The author incorrectly positions the Spaniard, this is not quite ...

[Dmitry Lukovkin]

So they shoot .......... for a couple of meters.

[Sailor]

I shot from SPP-1 on the ship was, and I was part of the PDSS group, the accuracy is not really.

[Sandor Clegane]

Quote: Sailor

I shot from SPP-1 on the ship was, and I was part of the PDSS group, the accuracy is not very

[Doccor18]

I could be wrong, but it's all melee weapons. Further 50 meters does not make sense. Yes, under water for 200 meters and nothing is visible.
25-50 meters, all that is closer is a harpoon or knife, all that is further is a bus. grenade launcher on the ship.

[Alex_You]

200 meters even optimistic, I would say 50 meters.

[igog]

Defective, what knife and harpoon under water is 50 meters, but at least 25.

[Sailor]

I would say 20 meters, at 50 it is very difficult to hit the target.

[Grigory_45]

Quote: Doccor18

whatever is closer - harpoon or knife

the harpoons somehow didn’t take root, but with a knife under water you still need to be able to handle it in a special way - this is not at all the same as on land. There is no support as such. That is why they develop the topic of firearms underwater weapons

[Private-K]

Quote: Sailor

shot from SPP-1 on the ship was, and I was part of the PDSS group, the accuracy is not particularly.

This is a pistol for underwater shooting. Under water, the horseradish of which you will see further 15-20 m, and in those areas where swimmers are likely to operate, visibility is 5-10 m maximum. In order to get at short range weapons do not need special accuracy. It’s enough that the bullet would fly where the barrel is looking, and scoring points in the dash is just a sport.

[Sailor]

It’s hard to get to the indicated 15-20 meters, what kind of scoring is there, God bless you. And on the surface, the target was from a wooden box.

[Private-K]

Well, then I’m directly hinting - firing under water will be conducted, in fact, almost point-blank.
In addition, the gun is too specific - we must learn to shoot. Not the case when he took and using ordinary skills he shot.

[Aag]

Information slipped through: in the USSR, on the ships of the Navy (I don’t know what rank) there were PDSSs, or abnormal crew members were formed.

[Sailor]

From a full-time crew, there are 4 people on MT. This is a 3rd rank ship.

[Dmitry Lukovkin]

Accuracy depends on accuracy

[Amateur]

[quote] It was adopted in the Soviet era, back in 1975, but declassified it only in 1993at an international exhibition in Abu Dhabi. [quote]
De facto he was declassified on December 2-3, 1989 in Malta during the meeting of the spotted reptile with George W. Bush (Art.).

[Nikolaevich I]

Duc, swimmers can do not "top" alone ... A.V. Shevchenko developed a whole family of two-medium weapons based on Kalashnikov assault rifles: 5,45 × 39-mm "Sea Lion", "Capillary", "Barracuda", "Shkval", "Calm"; 7,62 × 39 mm Bars; 9-mm "Storm"; submachine guns "Cheetah", "Lynx". Shevchenko's first developments were a continuation of Danilov's work. Then a new family of weapons for underwater cartridges was developed, similar in design to the Tula PSP in various calibers (up to 9 × 39 mm). Weapons and cartridges developed by Shevchenko are now being demonstrated at exhibitions under the banner of the Baltic State Technical University "Voenmekh" and are offered as civilian weapons for fighting large predatory animals in the aquatic environment ...

[Aag]

... "to combat large predatory animals in the aquatic environment ..."
I don’t know how now, but in the last century the United States trained seals, killer whales in the interests of the fleet, - search work, mining, and (!) The fight against scuba diving. The USSR used dolphins for such purposes. The training center remained on the territory of Ukraine.

[Undecim]

The site was flooded with a wave of publications from authors who absolutely do not understand what they are writing about. As a result, an avalanche of completely implausible information falls upon the reader, taken from some unknown source, since the origin of their “wonderful discoveries” is protected by most authors as a state secret. What is the purpose of such "records"?
And now the Spanish Star Z-84 has become an "underwater machine". With the same success, any modern small arms can be written into "underwater". The same AKM also shoots under water. The question is that standard ammunition under water is ineffective at a distance of more than one meter, therefore special ammunition is designed for firing under water.
Star Z-84 is not an underwater weapon, but an over-the-beach weapon, that is, a weapon that does not require any preliminary preparation for firing when removing it from the water. It is for this reason that they were armed with SCUBA, the Spanish combat swimmers.
But the author "left unarmed" American "seals" - underwater revolver Mk.1 Mod.0 "Underwater Defense Gun" designed by F. Stevens.

[Undecim]

British combat swimmers use a six-barreled underwater pistol, designed by Irwin Barr, who, incidentally, was tested in real combat during the Falkland conflict.

[Aviator_]

tested in real combat during the Falkland conflict.

Are there any data on this episode? How many Argentines were shot, from what distance, etc.?

[Undecim]

It is possible that they did not shoot a single Argentinean. Now, for the sake of interest, I tried to search for information on your question, I found that since 1976 SBS have been using HK P11. Moreover, the information is completely trustworthy.
So it is quite possible that I was in a hurry with the "baptism of fire". I'll have to dig more.

[Aviator_]

Land Argentines of 1982 - no warriors. They only showed themselves to the Air Force perfectly - with several refueling in the air, in bad weather conditions on the "Superettandars" they hit the British ships with "Exosets" only in this way. From "Invincible" (Invincible) made "Invisible" (Invisible), well, the rest got it.

[V.I.P.]

Forgot to point out the Chinese three-barreled pistol QSS-05 caliber 5,8 mm, the Chinese automatic underwater gun QBS-06 caliber 5,8 mm (based on Soviet samples). Yugoslav single-shot pistol SSU. gun PUW-2

[Cowbra]

Distinctive characteristics of weapons

That a fool is easier to kill by dropping

but it is ineffective

I heard exactly the opposite, and precisely because of what he shoots. The needle inflicts such wounds that, like with a grain, it’s somersaulting where to get. And to the one who said this, I believe more, he was then major in waterfowl pinnipeds. A twin - they’re not snipers.
Well, also for our and not our underwater pistols. One is recharging, but it looks like a quick charge - the second is a block of 5 barrels, the cartridges in them, in the field the block is not rechargeable. Under water, that one thing, that the other is problematic to put on, is understandable, but the words are not mine.

[Aag]

"And the twin - they're not snipers."
The Russian school of combat swimmers was famous for underwater hand-to-hand (knife) combat. (Apparently, at one time, Italian pros of sabotage got a lot of it.)
In Soviet times, there were even competitions in underwater hand-to-hand combat (see the magazine Sports Submariner).

[Cowbra]

Underwater - ninai, and melee - you are NOT right

[Operator]

All underwater firearms are divided into two groups:
- firing special cartridges with a needle-shaped bullet dispersed by a piston that prevents powder gases from going out;
- firing conventional ammunition with double-super-cavitating bullets with the formation of a gas bubble after a shot.

A sample of the first type of weapon are numerous models of pistols with a replaceable unit of single-shot barrels, a sample of the second - ADS.

The range of underwater shooting is limited by visibility - from 40 meters in the tropical seas to several meters in the Baltic.

[Aag]

The classification you have given is, in my opinion, the most appropriate.

[Talgat 148]

There was also a Yugoslav SSU underwater pistol

[Grigory_45]

However, with a small firing range, the Z-84 has one very significant advantage: it is equipped with standard 9mm Parabellum cartridges, which eliminates the problems associated with the use of non-standard bullets in underwater weapons.

and with what fright did the Star Z-84 suddenly become bicornious? I'd love to hear about this author’s comments

[KSVK]

Quote: Operator

- firing conventional ammunition with double-super-cavitating bullets with the formation of a gas bubble after a shot.

Well, it should be noted that the ADS can specifically fire regular 5,45 rounds in the air. With a decent range / accuracy. But "ordinary" cartridges for underwater shooting are not quite ordinary. There the bullet is recessed to the full length of the sleeve. The powder charge is therefore smaller. And the initial speed is just over 300 m / s. The bullet itself is of course heavier.

[Roman_vh]

As far as I remember, according to the diving training in Sevastopol, our fighters seemed to be called anti-sabotage forces and means. But I will not argue.
With regard to firing from APS-5 in the air there is experience. Post number 2 was exactly over the shooting range. And when the PDSSniki fired, and they fired often, the sentry was ordered to descend into the caponier. For the ricochets of these nails were simply enchanting. And with what kind of sound they flew, it’s just something, despite the fact that the shot is practically inaudible. In the training, there was one shift of PDSSnikov, and they were precisely anti-saboteurs. Still sometimes there were, I don’t know why, marines from Fiolent. From that there were horses. I have never seen such people in my life, unless I can compare it with Emelianenko. Only growth is still a measure of two. Was there from November 82 to April 83.