In previous materials (Forgotten Soviet cartridge 6x49 mm versus cartridge 6, 8 mm NGSW and Subcaliber bullets and a tapered barrel made of tungsten carbide: the future of small arms), we considered technical solutions that can be used to create promising small arms that can effectively resist small arms developed in the USA under the NGSW program.
As the main goals of the NGSW program, two are declared: increasing the range of destruction of targets protected by existing and future means of personal body armor (NIB), and increasing the effective range of firing from the infantryman's standard small arms.
From the point of view of solving the problem of hitting targets protected by the NIB, the most effective solution is likely to be the creation of smooth-bore small arms in combination with high-speed sub-caliber bullets. At the same time, there is a possibility that weapons with sub-caliber bullets will have lower accuracy and accuracy at long distances - over 500 meters, even when firing in single-fire mode. Or solving this problem will require the manufacture of feathered sub-caliber bullets (OPP) with extremely high accuracy, which will make them too expensive for even special operations forces (SSO).
At the same time, the creation of a universal weapon capable of effectively hitting targets protected by the NIB at short ranges, and ensuring high accuracy and accuracy of hits at long ranges, may be impossible. A weapon chambered for a powerful cartridge will not provide the necessary fire density to obtain an acceptable probability of hitting targets at close range, and a weak cartridge will not provide an acceptable effectiveness of hitting targets at long range.
So what is it? Arming soldiers with two types of machine guns / rifles, for example, when a large part of a unit is armed with machine guns for conditionally close combat, and a smaller part with long-range "Marksman" rifles?
Two ammunition for different ranges
In principle, such a division has almost always existed. If we recall the Second World War, then in the Soviet troops there were both long-range Mosin rifles of the 1891 caliber 7, 62x54R, and the Shpagin submachine guns (PPSh) of the 1941 caliber 7, 62x25 mm.
In the German army, there was a similar situation: a Mauser 98k rifle (carbine) of 7, 92 × 57 mm caliber and an MP 40 submachine gun of 9 × 19 mm caliber.
The creation of small arms for an intermediate cartridge in the middle of the 20th century, it would seem, changed the situation: the entire infantry (motorized infantry) was armed with a single model of small arms, in the USSR the ancestor of this type of weapon was the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle, caliber 7, 62x39 mm.
In the future, the leading armies of the world switched to low-impulse cartridges: caliber 5, 45x39 mm in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries and caliber 5, 56x45 mm in the USA and NATO countries.
However, it quickly became clear that a weapon chambered for an intermediate and low-impulse cartridge does not ensure the destruction of targets at all the necessary distances of fire combat. This led to the appearance in the rifle divisions of the USSR / Russia and the United States, in addition to weapons chambered for 5, 45x39 / 5, 56x45 mm, weapons for more powerful cartridges 7, 62x54R and 7, 62x51 mm. In the USSR, these were the Dragunov sniper rifle (SVD) and the Kalashnikov machine gun (PK) of 7, 62x54R caliber, and in the USA it is the M14 automatic rifle and the M60 machine gun of 7, 62x51 mm caliber.
Nevertheless, the ratio of weapons 5, 45x39 / 5, 56x45 mm and weapons of caliber 7, 62x54R / 7, 62x51 mm was significantly shifted in favor of weapons chambered for a low-impulse cartridge. The situation began to change after the entry of the US armed forces into Afghanistan, where it turned out that M4 rifles of caliber 5, 56x45 mm are often ineffective, since in mountainous terrain the enemy often attacked from a long distance using weapons of caliber 7, 62x54R or 7, 62x51 mm. Also, the military was not satisfied with the ability of the M4 rifle to break through obstacles, for example, duval - adobe fences or walls in Central Asia, separating the courtyard of a dwelling or house from the street.
This led to a natural increase in the interest of the US armed forces in relation to more powerful and effective weapons.
The simplest solution was the purchase of the latest weapons of 7, 62x51 mm caliber. In particular, the US Special Operations Forces purchased the Belgian FN SCAR rifles of the SCAR-H modification of the 7, 62x51 mm caliber, completely abandoning the purchase of the SCAR-L modification of the 5, 56x45 mm caliber. Also, the US Department of Defense purchased 4492 HK G28 (HK 417) rifles, caliber 7, 62x51 mm as a marksman rifle.
At the same time, the topic of the transition of the armed forces to a new cartridge of 6, 5-6, 8 mm caliber began to be actively discussed. Initially, it was assumed that cartridges such as 6, 5x39 mm Grendel or 6, 8x43 mm Remington SPC are considered as the new main ammunition of the US armed forces.
However, in reality, it turned out that the US armed forces are ready to take a much more decisive step and create a promising weapon-cartridge complex with an energy 2-3 times higher than the energy of a weapon chambered for a low-impulse cartridge. And in this case, we again return to the question of whether weapons created under the NGSW program will have the ability to accurately and efficiently fire at distant targets in semi-automatic mode, and heap effective firing at targets at close range, in automatic fire mode.
It is likely that the weapons created under the NGSW program will not provide a heap of effective firing in automatic fire mode at targets at close range, a promising weapon with high-speed sub-caliber ammunition will be inferior to weapons created under the NGSW program when firing at long ranges, and a promising weapon for the reincarnation of the 6x49 mm cartridge will be a compromise solution between these two options.
In this regard, history may repeat itself and the armed forces will again have two types of small arms, which have approximately equal prevalence: a classic machine gun for combat at short and medium ranges up to 300-500 meters and a semi-automatic twenty-shot rifle for combat at a range of 500-800 meters. possibly up to 1000 meters. In this case, the rifle squad will lose to the enemy armed only with machine guns in the case of short-range combat, and lose to the enemy armed only with semi-automatic rifles in the case of long-range combat.
The question arises: is it possible to implement a combined solution based on the use of two types of ammunition?
Combined hunting weapon
Combined weapons are quite widespread in the hunting environment. Basically, the development was received by multi-barreled single-shot models - one cartridge for one barrel. Usually the number of trunks varies from two to four. For example, a gun may have two smooth 12-gauge barrels and two rifled barrels, but in practice the combination of different calibers is limited only by the manufacturer's imagination.
With store-bought and self-loading models, everything is not so rosy, which is understandable by the complexity of creating such a weapon. Nevertheless, it exists and was developed in the USSR / Russia, at TsKIB SOO.
The MTs-27 rifle combines a single-shot upper rifled barrel of 9x53 mm caliber, with a sliding bolt, and a smooth barrel with a detachable magazine for two 20-caliber rounds. The disadvantage of MC-27 is its weight, which is 3.8 kg.
An even more advanced model was the MTs-28 rifle, in which there are two self-loading mechanisms and two magazines for both types of barrels. The upper barrel with a rotary drum for three.22LR rounds is equipped with a free breechblock. The lower smooth barrel with gas-operated automatic equipment and a box magazine for two rounds is implemented as in the MTs-27 gun. The ease of implementation and reliability of this weapon is noted. The disadvantage, as in the case of the MC-27, was the mass of the weapon, amounting to 3.9 kg. The MTs-28 combined gun did not receive distribution due to the extremely limited volume of production.
In the MTs-29-3 rifle, the upper single-shot 20-gauge smooth barrel (MTs-29 - 32 caliber) was combined with a.22LR free-action barrel and a tubular eight-shot magazine.
Despite the fact that the combined self-loading weapon has not gained popularity, the very fact of its creation suggests that it is quite feasible. It is also necessary to understand that the above samples were created in the 60s - 70s of the XX century.
Combined combat weapon
The most famous attempt to create a combined combat weapon can be considered the American OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) project, within which a prototype of a promising XM29 rifle was created, which combined a 5, 56x45 mm machine gun (KE module) and a 20 mm automatic grenade launcher (module HE).
As in the case of hunting weapons, the mass of the XM29, which amounted to 7, 8-8, 2 kg, became a serious obstacle. However, the problem was solved non-trivial. In addition to the 20 mm multiple-charge grenade launcher, which is quite a lot in itself, the expensive computer sight had a significant mass, providing remote detonation of grenades.
But the main obstacle in the way of the XM29 was most likely the complexity of the implementation of the sighting system, which provides remote detonation of grenades over the target. Considering that the development of the XM-25 grenade launcher complex, created on the basis of the reserve under the OICW program, was closed, most likely it was not possible to ensure guaranteed detonation of grenades over the target, which devalued the entire program. At the same time, this does not discredit the very idea of creating a combined weapon.
By analogy with the XM29 in South Korea, the Daewoo K11 rifle and grenade launcher system was developed with modules of caliber 5, 56 × 45 mm and 20 × 85 mm (grenades). The curb weight of the Daewoo K11 was 7.1 kg. The grenade launcher module was manually reloaded using a sliding bolt. In 2017, the second generation of the Daewoo K11 complex was presented, it is possible that the project will be further developed in the future.
In Australia, the AICW (Advanced Infantry Combat Weapon) program was being developed. The basis of the promising weapon was the famous Steyr AUG rifle of caliber 5, 56 × 45 mm, supplemented by a three-shot 40-mm grenade launcher, made according to the Metal Storm system with a sequential arrangement of grenades, and an electro-optical sight. Structurally, such a system is simpler and more reliable, and the barrel of the machine is longer than that of the XM29 or Daewoo K11, but the curb weight of the complex was 9.9 kg, which was absolutely unacceptable.
In the USSR, a combined combat weapon, the 80.002 rifle-grenade launcher system, was created in the 70s of the XX century, on the basis of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, supplemented by a ten-round grenade launcher for 12.7 mm ammunition. The 80.002 product did not leave the prototype stage and the project was closed in 1979, although the solutions within the framework of this project were worked out by the designers until the 90s.
The simplest and most functional way of creating a combined combat weapon was to place an additional module on a standard small arms. If we discard single-shot under-barrel grenade launchers and talk only about multi-shot solutions, where the under-barrel module is actually a small arms itself, then we can recall the quite successful American experience of installing under-barrel shotguns on M16 and M4 rifles.
In Russia, a 9A91 assault rifle of 9x39 mm caliber developed by the State Unitary Enterprise "KBP" was equipped with a multi-charge underbarrel shotgun.
Thus, we can say that in different countries there is significant experience in the creation of combined small arms, which, although not always led to the appearance of serial products, but made it possible to gain experience in their development, which may later be in demand in promising models of small arms
Promising combined combat weapons
The idea of a promising combined weapon was considered by the author in the article "Assault Rifle: What Should It Be?" Since then, little has changed in the field of small arms, and it can be taken as a basis for the formation of the concept of a promising rifle, discarding the most radical solutions, such as cartridges with electric ignition.
As we said at the beginning of the article, in the considered promising combined rifle, it should be possible to conduct automatic fire with acceptable accuracy and the probability of hitting targets protected by the NIB, which should be ensured by the use of feathered sub-caliber bullets, or sub-caliber bullets of a different layout. At the same time, there is a possibility that it will not be possible to ensure acceptable accuracy and accuracy of hits with subcaliber bullets at targets located at a distance of 500 meters or more, which may require ensuring the possibility of semi-automatic firing with a cartridge with a rifled bullet of sufficiently high power.
A promising combined rifle should include a module with a smooth, possibly tapered barrel, for firing bursts at a distance of up to 400-500 meters, for a telescopic cartridge with an OPP caliber 2, 5/10 mm - 3.5/10 mm, and a module, made according to the "bullpup" scheme, with a rifled barrel intended for semi-automatic shooting with high accuracy, a cartridge of 6-8 mm caliber, for a range of up to 800-1000 meters
Thus, promising weapons will be somewhat similar to the weapons created under the OICW program. Will it not turn out that we will repeat the mistakes of the creators of weapons in this and similar programs?
The first reason the closure of the OICW program was the low effectiveness of 20-mm grenades with remote detonation, the use of which in a promising combined rifle we do not envisage.
The second reason the closure of the OICW program is the high cost of weapons developed under the OICW program. Earlier, we have already considered that, according to the criterion of cost-effectiveness, small arms are ahead of many other types of weapons. In addition, the absence of grenades with remote detonation makes it unnecessary to develop a specialized expensive electronic-optical sighting system with the composition of a promising combined rifle.
We do not plan to equip a million-strong army, crews of armored vehicles and auxiliary units with a promising combined rifle. First of all, a promising combined rifle is intended for the Special Operations Forces, and secondly, for the belligerent units, that is, the need for new weapons can be estimated at 10 thousand - 100 thousand units.
Taking for the maximum cost of one promising combined rifle in the amount of 500 thousand rubles, we will receive the amounts necessary for the purchase in the amount of 5 billion and 50 billion rubles, respectively. Is it a lot or a little? For example, a football stadium in St. Petersburg cost about 43-50.8 billion rubles. One nuclear-powered icebreaker of the "Arktika" type costs about 50 billion rubles. The military budget of the Russian Federation in 2020 is about 3 trillion. rubles.
If someone considers the cost of small arms in the amount of 500 thousand rubles to be transcendental, then he should pay attention to the products of the Russian company Lobaev Arms, the cost of rifles of which reaches two million rubles. In addition, an increase in the batch may affect the cost, that is, for a batch of 10 thousand units, it will be 500 thousand rubles, and for a batch of 100 thousand.units, already 250 thousand rubles. In general, the issue of cost is a debatable issue.
Third reason the closure of the OICW program is a significant weight of the received samples of weapons, and this also applies to other similar programs. Can this problem be solved?
The mass of the KE module, the automatic part of the XM29 complex, could not be found, but the mass of the Heckler & Koch XM8 rifle at the development stage was 2, 6-2, 9 kg. Another example is the Remington 700 Titanium mountain rifle weighing 2.4-3 kg in calibers up to the powerful.300 Win Mag.
The rough addition of the XM8 and the Remington 700 Titanium gives a mass of about 6 kg, but we need a semi-automatic module for a rifled cartridge, on the other hand, in a single design, some elements of the weapon will also be the same (butt, stock). How else can you reduce weight?
The American company PROOF Research is actively developing its line of CFRP barrels with a steel liner. PROOF Research barrels include a 416R stainless steel inner liner and a solid carbon fiber composite outer shell. Composite barrels from PROOF Research weigh, on average, half the weight of conventional barrels of the same profile. In this case, the greatest benefit comes from their use in rifles of medium and large caliber.
Also, the composite material significantly better dampens vibrations that occur in the walls of the barrel during the firing process. The CFRP barrel is also beneficial for intensive shooting, since, according to the manufacturer, it gives off heat much faster and its cooling time is about 60% of the time required for a completely metal barrel to cool. It is achieved due to the special structure of the material, the selection of the properties of the carbon fiber matrix and the characteristics of the surface.
Demonstrated at the United States Marine Corps Day, a.50 BMG sniper rifle based on a McMillan TAC-50, with a Steiner 5-25 × 56 sight and a Cadex stock equipped with a PROOF Research barrel, weighs 4.5 kg less than the standard version. This gain is due to the use of a composite barrel with a weight reduced by 55%. PROOF Research is so far the only company whose CFRP barrels are used by the US Army and other special forces.
Composite CFRP barrels are also produced by Christensen Arms, a competitor with PROOF Research, and it is possible that other weapons companies are also developing in this area.
Given that the mass of the barrel is a significant part of the weapon, the use of composite barrels in a promising combined rifle will save several kilograms of weight.
Also, composite materials and titanium can be used in the manufacture of the stock and receiver. An even more promising solution can be the use of foam materials and materials with a complexly oriented internal structure, which we talked about in the article Armor of God: technologies for promising personal body armor, and which should additionally contribute to reducing recoil.
The combination of a titanium frame, composite materials and materials with a complex internal structure will not only help to reduce the weight of a promising combination rifle to four to five kilograms, but also provide the necessary structural rigidity, as well as heat removal from the barrels.
The use of a muffler - a closed muzzle brake of the compensator, which seems to be becoming a stable trend, will reduce recoil and increase the accuracy of fire, as well as minimize the effect of the sound of a shot on the fighter's hearing organs. It is likely that the silencer will be needed only on the module for firing bursts, while on the module for high-precision shooting, its installation will be optional or optional.
An additional advantage of a promising combination rifle can be increased reliability of work, due to the presence of two independent mechanisms with a common trigger and safety lever. The algorithm of the fuse, for example, can be as follows:
- fuse - automatic fire (smooth barrel) - single fire (smooth barrel) - single fire (rifled barrel);
or
- fuse - automatic fire (smooth barrel) - firing in short bursts of 2 or 3 shots (smooth barrel) - single firing (smooth barrel) - single firing (rifled barrel).
Output
How expedient is the creation of a combined rifle? The whole question is whether it will be possible to ensure the necessary probability of hitting targets protected by the NIB in the entire range of required ranges, using weapons only with a rifled barrel and caliber bullets or weapons only with a smooth barrel and sub-caliber bullets.
The distance of the fire fight increases. This is facilitated by the emergence of new sighting systems that provide not only detection, but also target designation of the shooter for a confident hit, taking into account the range to the target and meteorological factors. And promising small arms must match the capabilities of such sighting systems.
