Despite the saturation of the battlefield with sniper and grenade launcher weapons, anti-tank guided missiles and mortars, the most important weapon of any modern army is still the infantryman's main weapon - the submachine gun / automatic rifle.
The origins of the problem
The submachine guns and automatic rifles currently in service with the world's largest armies, such as the Kalashnikov assault rifle or rifles of the M-4 / M-16 family, either date back to the middle of the 20th century, or, although they are based on new materials and design solutions, practically do not differ from them in their characteristics.
The main problem is that over the past time, the main ammunition used in machine guns is still intermediate cartridges of caliber 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm. From time to time there are disputes between adherents of calibers 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm, but in fact this is the notorious replacement of an awl for soap. Each cartridge has its own advantages and disadvantages, which are manifested in certain regions and scenarios of warfare.
A complicating factor is the rapid improvement of personal body armor (NIB). In particular, the use of ceramic armor elements, for example, boron carbide, can significantly reduce the effectiveness of small arms of calibers 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm.
For example, the Russian military equipment of the "Ratnik" serviceman includes a 6B45 body armor, capable of withstanding ten hits from an SVD with an armor-piercing incendiary cartridge.
Taking this into account, it can be assumed that cartridges 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm have practically exhausted their modernization potential, and the scales in the confrontation between "sword and shield" began to lean towards the "shield".
Insufficient effectiveness of cartridges 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm led to the appearance in certain units of the US armed forces of rifles of 7, 62x51 mm, designed to defeat the enemy at a greater distance than weapons of 5, 56x45 mm allow … For example, the Special Operations Forces (MTR) of the United States, as part of the purchase of the Belgian FN SCAR rifles, refused to purchase the SCAR-L modification of the 5, 56x45 mm caliber, focusing on the procurement of the SCAR-H modification of the 7, 62x51 mm caliber.
In response to requests from the armed forces for an increase in firepower, the German company Heckler & Koch also introduced the HK417 rifle in 7, 62x51 mm, in addition to the HK416 rifle in 5, 56x45 mm.
However, all of these solutions only allow you to increase the range of destruction of targets, but do not solve the issue of hitting targets protected by modern and promising NIB. Negative factors are also a decrease in wearable ammunition due to the increased mass of cartridges 7, 62x51 mm compared to cartridges 5, 56x45 mm, and a higher recoil of the weapon.
Thus, having fully felt the shortcomings of the 5, 56x45 mm caliber in Afghanistan, as well as under the impression of the progress in the creation of the TIE in Russia and China, the United States decided to significantly increase the firepower of the fighters by creating a completely new weapon-cartridge complex, and began the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program - (new generation squad small arms).
NGSW Program: Ammunition
The NGSW program includes the creation of a new generation squad rifle NGSW-R (Next Generation Squad Weapon Rifle), designed to replace the M-4 rifle, and an automatic rifle of the next generation NGSW-AR (Next Generation Squad Weapon Automatic Rifle), intended to replace machine gun M249. The competition was attended by companies such as VK Integrated Systems, Bachstein Consulting and MARS Inc. and Cobalt Kinetics, AAI Corporation Textron Systems, General Dynamics-OTS Inc. and Sig Sauer Inc.
In principle, similar programs have been carried out by the US armed forces more than once, of the latter one can recall the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) program, within the framework of which an attempt was made to develop a small arms and grenade launcher system, including a 5, 56x45 mm machine gun and a 20-mm automatic grenade launcher.
The complexity, high cost and unsatisfactory characteristics of the rifle-grenade launcher system led to the division of the OICW program into the creation of a separate modular XM8 machine gun of 5, 56x45 mm caliber and a self-loading XM25 hand grenade launcher of 25 mm caliber. In the end, all of the above programs were closed despite the fact that the XM25 grenade launcher managed to check in in Afghanistan, and received quite positive feedback from the military.
The key difference of the NGSW program is that it is planned to adopt not only new weapons, but also a fundamentally new cartridge of 6, 8 mm caliber. And speaking of the NGSW program, you need to start with a new cartridge.
MARS and Cobalt have developed a cartridge of 6.8 mm with a bullet weighing 9.07 grams, providing a muzzle velocity of 976 m / s. Based on these parameters, it can be seen that the initial energy of a bullet of this ammunition will be over 4300 J, which exceeds the initial energy of bullets for most of the cartridges of calibers 7, 62x51 mm and 7, 62x54R. The body of the sleeve is presumably made of stainless steel to ensure the ability to withstand increased pressure and to ensure a reduction in the weight of the ammunition.
VK Integrated Systems introduced the 6, 8 Sherwood cartridge, based on the.284 Winchester cartridge. The characteristics of the 6, 8 Sherwood cartridge are unknown, but based on the characteristics of the.284 Winchester cartridge, which provides a bullet weighing 9.7 grams with an initial velocity of 858 m / s with a muzzle energy of about 3600 J, it can be assumed that the characteristics of the 6, 8 Sherwood cartridge will be comparable with those of the 6, 8 mm cartridge from MARS and Cobalt.
The most innovative ammunition can be considered a telescopic cartridge with a polymer sleeve from Textron Systems. Presumably, it will allow to maximally reduce the mass of the wearable ammunition, taking into account the increase in the power of the ammunition, but at the same time, the diameter of cartridges made in a telescopic form factor can exceed that of a cartridge of similar power, made in a traditional layout. What is not critical for a light machine gun, with its bulky box, may be unacceptable for an automatic rifle with a box magazine. However, apparently, an increase in the diameter of the cartridge case of all declared ammunition is expected, so this drawback can be considered uncritical.
A more weighty argument is the lack of experience in the long-term operation of telescopic ammunition with a polymer sleeve in real combat conditions, which can potentially lead to insoluble problems during the operation stage, for example, cartridge deformation as a result of weapon heating, mechanical or climatic influences.
General Dynamics-OTS Inc. and Sig Sauer Inc. submitted to the competition, respectively, cartridges 6, 8 True Velocity and 6, 8 Hybrid round. The cartridge case 6, 8 True Velocity is made of polymer composite with a metal base. The cartridge case 6, 8 True Velocity is made of brass with a stainless steel base. Both companies declare a reduction in the weight of the wearable ammunition. Sig Sauer attributes its choice of a hybrid metal liner to the inability of existing polymer composites to resist the high pressure of the liner.
Taking into account some conservatism inherent in the military, it should be noted that the solution from Sig Sauer Inc. may well get priority. Also to the benefits of ammunition design from Sig Sauer Inc. it can be attributed to the fact that at the initial stage, cartridges 6, 8 Hybrid round can be used in the version with a hybrid metal sleeve, and in the future, the user (US Armed Forces) can switch to the use of fully or partially composite ammunition, for example, with a stainless steel base and polymer body of the liner.
It can be assumed that the initial energy of a promising cartridge adopted under the NGSW program will be in the range of 4000-4500 J. 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm, but also for rifle cartridges of caliber 7, 62x51 mm and 7, 62x54R. A distinctive feature of promising ammunition will be a pressure that is approximately twice the pressure developed in the barrel of existing army small arms ammunition
NGSW Program: Weapons
The need to use cartridge compartments in promising small arms, the initial energy of which will significantly exceed not only the initial energy of intermediate ammunition of 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm, but also rifle cartridges of 7, 62x51 mm and 7, 62x54R, will require the use of design solutions in promising small arms to reduce the impact of recoil on the shooter.
It should be noted that the US armed forces already had experience in using automatic weapons for powerful rifle cartridges. We are talking about the M14 automatic rifle chambered for the then new cartridge of 7, 62x51 mm caliber. In pursuit of the power of the ammunition, the United States "missed" the appearance of the Soviet intermediate cartridge 7, 62x39 mm, creating as a result, albeit a powerful, but large-sized and clumsy weapon.
The M14 rifle did not perform well during the US military operations in Vietnam, especially in comparison with the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle that the Vietnamese had. Due to the large size and weight of the 7, 62x51 mm cartridge, compared to the 7, 62x39 mm cartridge, the magazine capacity (20 rounds against 30 for the AK-47) and the wearable ammunition load of an American soldier with the M14 were 1.5 times inferior to those of the Vietnamese a soldier with an AK-47. Firing bursts from an M14 rifle with minimal acceptable accuracy is actually possible only from a bipod or an emphasis, and at a distance of about 100 meters. However, replacing the M4 with the M16 did not greatly improve the position of the American military due to the behavior of small-caliber 5, 56 mm bullets in the dense jungle.
Let's go back to the NGSW program. Of all the candidates sounded above, General Dynamics-OTS Inc., AAI Corporation Textron Systems and Sig Sauer Inc. Some sources also mention FN America LLC and PCP Tactical, LLC, but their final status in the NGSW program is unclear.
As we remember, the recoil of the above-mentioned M14 rifle of caliber 7, 62x51 mm did not allow to provide any acceptable accuracy and accuracy of firing in bursts. In the new weapon under the NGSW program, this problem should be solved despite the fact that the initial energy of the new cartridge of 6.8 mm should exceed the initial energy of the cartridge 7.62x51 mm.
As proposed solutions, the use of standard silencers on promising rifles and machine guns is considered, which reduces recoil by a third
An additional benefit that an integrated muffler can provide is a reduction in the impact on a fighter's hearing, especially indoors. Of course, a soldier of a modern army should have ear protection - active headphones, but in reality there are a huge number of situations when they either will not be there, or they will fail. Also, the use of silencers on an ongoing basis will reduce the detection range of a soldier by muzzle flash and the sound of a shot.
As other ways to reduce recoil, schemes with accumulated recoil momentum, balanced automation, various shock absorber designs and other design solutions can be used, information about which may appear closer to the final of the NGSW program in 2022.
It can be assumed that the main mode of firing from weapons of caliber 6, 8 mm will be a mode with a cutoff of a queue of 2 rounds, which is declared as desirable in the developed models of weapons.
conclusions
What advantages will the US Army gain from weapons under the NGSW program if it is successfully implemented?
Actually, what this program was intended for: increasing the range of destruction of targets and confident defeat of targets protected by modern and promising NIS. Of the minuses, one can note a likely decrease in the density of fire from small arms of 6, 8 mm caliber at short range due to an increase in recoil and a high probability of reducing the stores of promising automatic rifles to twenty cartridges.
In general, based on the prospects for the implementation of the American NGSW program, two questions can be asked:
1. How big a threat is a promising weapon created under the NGSW program for the armed forces of the Russian Federation?
It can be assumed that in the event of a conflict between Russia and the United States, the matter may not reach the machines, so there is no need to rush to respond to NGSW. But with a high probability, the United States will want to test the new weapon in the field, and in this context, it cannot be ruled out that it will appear, for example, in Ukraine, or among fighters of various private military companies (PMCs), for example, in Syria. And the likelihood of a clash between fighters of Russian and American special forces cannot be completely ruled out due to the specifics of their activities, combined with increased secrecy. In this case, the lack of a weapon adequate to that of a potential enemy can lead to unacceptable losses of personnel of Russian special forces.
Of course, one can hope that nothing "for them" under the NGSW program will work, or that this is just another cut. But, in my opinion, this is somewhat risky.
2. Is there a need for some kind of reaction from the Russian armed forces in the event of a successful implementation of the American NGSW program?
The most interesting thing is that the reaction should be regardless of whether the US Armed Forces are successfully implementing the NGSW program or not. The need for a new weapon-cartridge complex has been brewing for a long time, and the NGSW program is a "litmus test" showing the need to develop a new generation of small arms. The starting point here is not the appearance of a new weapon in the US Armed Forces, but the emergence of NIBs capable of effectively resisting both intermediate ammunition of 5, 56x45 mm, 5, 45x39 mm and 7, 62x39 mm and rifle ammunition of 7, 62x51 mm and 7 caliber. 62x54R.
