The Soviet school of weapons development was one of the best in the world, but not all samples managed to get from the prototype stage to mass production. Often, promising systems could not make their way through the inertia of the existing military leadership, which was reluctant to accept promising systems. Some experimental samples went a very long way to still see the light, but this happened at a different time, and sometimes in other countries. And if the AEK-971 assault rifle has found a second birth today already in Russia, the Baryshev automatic hand grenade launcher will be produced in the homeland of its designer - in Belarus.
Baryshev's automatic hand grenade launcher, also known under the designation ARGB-85, can be attributed to the lucky ones who managed to go all the way from an experimental model to a production model, however, this whole path took almost more than 30 years. This updated grenade launcher is being prepared for production in Belarus at the Belspetsvneshtekhnika enterprise.
ARGB - Barashev's automatic hand grenade launcher. It is designed to destroy both single and group targets with fragmentation grenades at a distance of up to 1000 meters. Anatoly Filippovich Baryshev became interested in the development of small arms back in the 1950s, having created a whole line of weapons since then. His hand-held automatic grenade launcher was part of a small arms complex with a new locking assembly created by A. F. Baryshev. The complex consisted of: AB-5, 45 submachine guns chambered for caliber 5, 45x39 mm and AB-7, 62 chambered for 7, 62x39 mm; automatic rifle AVB for the rifle and machine gun cartridge 7, 62x53 mm; 12, 7-mm KPB heavy machine gun and 30-mm automatic hand grenade launcher ARGB for the standard VOG-17 round. All weapons of this line were united by the sign of the presence of automatic fire. The thing is that the main feature of this line was the original principle of the locking device, which was aimed at reducing recoil and increasing the accuracy of fire when firing in bursts.
The most common small arms are those powered by gas engines (both the Kalashnikov assault rifle and the American M16 assault rifle). At the same time, everything in Baryshev's system worked on the energy of recoil. In his weapon, a semi-free breechblock was used for work. All samples of his complex of new small arms were distinguished by the presence of a very peculiar locking unit, which was created according to a single scheme. A special feature was that, along with its main function, it also provided a partial absorption of the recoil energy of the weapon when firing, since the shutter parts - the bolt carrier, the combat larva, the shutter frame and the locking lever were not rigidly connected to each other. For this reason, a significant part of the recoil at the time of the shot went to the sequential setting of these parts in motion, which, in turn, due to the collision of the moving elements and the stretching of their interaction in time, significantly (at least 2-3 times) reduced the recoil force. A decrease in the recoil force, which at the time of the shot acted on the shooter, made it possible not only to achieve an increase in the accuracy of automatic fire with continuous bursts, but also at the same time to significantly reduce the mass of the weapon - by the same 2-3 times.
As noted above, the interaction of the moving parts of the weapon extended in time could extinguish a significant part of the impulse, significantly increasing the stability of the weapon in the hands of the shooter when firing in bursts. The dispersion of an assault rifle designed by Baryshev (AB) when firing in bursts was immediately 12 times less than that of the AK-74. This result could only be described in one word - fantastic. But for everything in the world you have to pay. In this case, we had to pay with the reliability of the system. During intensive firing from the weapon, the chamber was contaminated with combustion products, as well as small particles of varnish from the sleeves. The chamber heats up when firing, and the cartridges begin to literally "stick" to its walls. In such conditions, the Kalashnikov assault rifle continues to work smoothly - dirt is not an obstacle for the gas vent mechanism, but the AB begins to malfunction. It is for this reason that Baryshev's shooting system, despite participating in a large number of competitions, since the 60s of the last century, in many ways has remained an experimental system forever.
At the same time, there is one type of automatic weapon that does not provide for non-stop firing - a grenade launcher. For example, the standard ammunition load of the AGS-17 is three boxes, a total of 87 rounds. In this regard, Baryshev's system is already really out of competition. According to testers of its ARGB-85 automatic hand-held grenade launcher, the recoil from it did not exceed the recoil from conventional under-barrel grenade launchers, which made it possible to hit targets located from the shooter at a distance of up to half a kilometer with quick hand-held fire. At the same time, fire from AGS-17 was possible only from a heavy machine. It is no coincidence that the special forces of the GRU and the KGB border troops showed interest in the ARGB-85, which weighed about 15 kg, but the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union stopped the development of a hand grenade launcher, freezing its fate for a long time. At the same time, at different times in the Czech Republic and Ukraine, attempts were made to deploy unlicensed production of ARGB, but Anatoly Baryshev managed to patent his scheme and was able to stop them.
For firing not directly at the ARGB, it was possible to install an optical sight with a side level and a protractor mechanism, a folding butt-opener and a removable bipod. In terms of its weight and size characteristics, the Baryshev grenade launcher was significantly ahead of all known systems of automatic hand-held grenade launchers. With a weight of 15, 3 kg, its total length did not exceed 950 mm, and with a folded butt - 700 mm. The magazine capacity was 5 shots, the rate of fire was 350 rounds per minute, the initial flight speed of the grenade was 185 m / s.
Due to the wide range of 30-mm rounds, the ARGB could be used as a powerful offensive weapon for fire support of motorized rifle units. The grenade launcher was indispensable as a means of direct fire support for infantry, especially in an offensive battle, as well as in hostilities in difficult conditions: in the mountains, in urban areas, in trenches. Reducing the mass of the grenade launcher, among other things, made it possible to reduce the calculation from 2-3 to one person, sharply increasing its maneuverability.
In the ARGB, the advantages of the semi-free bolt of the Baryshev system were fully revealed, allowing the shooter to conduct sufficiently effective automatic fire even from unstable positions on the move and while standing from the hip. According to the participants in the tests of this hand grenade launcher, standing from the hip it was already possible to hit a truck located at a distance of 400 meters with the second or third shot. When firing from the ARGB, the recoil at the time of the shot was felt by the shooter no more than when firing from the 40-mm GP-25 under-barrel grenade launcher, which was put on the machine guns. At the same time, when firing from stable positions (lying from a bipod), a significant part of the recoil of the weapon was effectively extinguished by a shock absorber built into the butt, thus increasing the accuracy of fire. Experts attributed the rejection of a gas engine (gas piston, gas chamber, gas outlet paths) to the indisputable advantages of the Baryshev grenade launcher. This significantly reduced the cost and simplified the design of the weapon, allowing for improved performance.
The automatic hand-held grenade launcher Baryshev, which never entered service and did not go into mass production in the USSR, became the main one for the development of a new Belarusian weapon. On June 12, 2017, the Belarusian news Internet portal tut.by said that the Belspetsvneshtekhnika enterprise is preparing for the serial production of a unique assault grenade launcher, which is to enter service with the units of the Belarusian special forces.
According to Igor Vasiliev, the designer of the Belspetsvneshtekhnika enterprise, the ergonomics of the experimental automatic grenade launcher designed by Baryshev was significantly improved. In particular, thanks to the use of composite materials and titanium, the weight of the weapon was reduced to 8 kg. This allows the soldier to use this hand grenade launcher as a classic small arms (no need for a special machine).
The new Belarusian modification of the ARGB provides for the installation of a thermal imaging sight on it, which will allow the grenade launcher to be used in difficult visibility conditions and at night. It is also possible to install an optical sight and a laser designator on a hand grenade launcher. According to the Belarusian developers, with the help of modern sighting devices, the shooter will be able to confidently hit targets with the first shots at a distance of up to 1200 meters.
The grenade launcher, as before, uses 30-mm ammunition from the AGS-17 "Flame" automatic grenade launcher: VOG-17M, VOG-17A, VOG-30 and GPD-30. The main feature of the new Belarusian development is as follows: from the grenade launcher, you can still fire in bursts directly from your hands. According to Igor Vasiliev, the recoil of a grenade launcher is now comparable to the recoil of shots from a conventional 12-gauge hunting rifle. According to a representative of Belspetsvneshtekhnika, the serial version of the manual automatic grenade launcher will be equipped with either a magazine designed for 6 shots, or a tape for 29 shots. Representatives of the Belarusian company say that prototypes of the updated hand-held grenade launcher have already been tested by the soldiers of the Belarusian special forces and, according to the test results, they received positive feedback on the new product.
