In 2017, the Norwegian company DSG Technology introduced its proprietary cavitation effect bullets to the general public. The ammunition created by Norwegian engineers made it possible to confidently hit targets both on land and in water. This is very important when you consider that standard ammunition is able to fly several kilometers, but once it gets into the water, it cannot move forward more than a few meters. The Norwegian 7.62mm CAV-X bullet is free from this drawback.
The Norwegians tested a new cavitating bullet
At the end of May 2019, the Norwegians demonstrated the capabilities of the cavitating bullet in order to prove its effectiveness in practice. Now the specialists of DSG Technology owns, albeit unofficial, a record for breaking through a special ballistic gel or gelatin, which the bullet successfully pierced before hitting the target, which this time was a watermelon. It is known that the new Norwegian 7.62 mm bullet was able to overcome four meters of ballistic gelatin. Ballistic gel or gelatin are special gelatinous materials that are created to mimic the physical properties of the tissues of the human body, in fact, they replace flesh. This material is widely used today when testing ammunition for small arms, as well as explosive devices and mines, helping to accurately determine their lethality.
Presented back in 2017, bullets with a cavitation effect use the same principle that is implemented in the high-speed underwater missile-torpedo Shkval, developed back in the late 1970s in the Soviet Union. Thanks to the use of the cavitation effect, the Norwegian bullet is able to hit objects located in the water much more effectively. To once again confirm this statement and demonstrate the characteristics of the CAV-X ammunition, DSG Technology specialists have prepared a special video showing how the new 7, 62-mm CAV-X bullet moves in a ballistic gel. As a comparison, the video also found a place for a shot with an ordinary NATO cartridge of 7, 62x51 mm caliber. A bullet, standard for NATO automatic weapons, was able to overcome only half a meter of ballistic gelatin. Unlike a conventional bullet, the new Norwegian cavitating bullet CAV-X was able to overcome four meters of ballistic gelatin without problems, hitting a target located at the end of the range. An important feature is that the trajectory of the CAV-X bullet remains unchanged all the way to the target.
Watermelon, who portrayed a target in a ballistic gel tunnel, fell victim to a new Norwegian cavitating ammunition CAV-X. The bullets for this ammunition are made of tungsten and covered with a brass sheath on top. A similar scheme allows the use of new cartridges and standard samples of small arms of the Norwegian army. DSG Technology assured journalists that the new ammunition has a special bullet shape, which allows the CAV-X not to ricochet off the water surface even at small meeting angles, forming a kind of air bubble around the bullet, from which another definition of the new Norwegian bullet appeared - bullet from the bubble. The resulting air bubble allows the bullet to move in the aquatic environment with the minimum possible loss of speed, and the trajectory of the bullet remains unchanged over the entire effective firing range. The Norwegian developers have announced the following values of the effective firing range for the new CAV-X cavitating ammunition. For cartridges of 12, 7 mm caliber, these values are equal to 2200 and 60 meters for air and water, respectively. Bullets of CAV-X ammunition of smaller calibers, 5, 56 mm and 7, 62 mm, retain their effectiveness under water at a distance of 14 and 22 meters, respectively.
Cavitating bullet CAV-X and its features
It is known that ordinary modern weapons are able to fire under water, but are not suitable for these purposes. There are a lot of explanations for this: from the fact that the weapon uses materials and the principle of operation that are not intended for use in an aquatic environment, to the inertial resistance of a liquid and a density significantly higher than that of air, which does not allow the automatic system to quickly reload the weapon. In addition, the weapon can simply fail due to hydraulic shocks, and contact with water itself harms the lubricant and can cause rust. Modern pistols and machine guns are simply not designed for use in such harsh conditions. The same is true for bullets, which almost instantly lose their destructive power, becoming simply useless. Against this background, the film "Saving Private Ryan" is indicative, in which Spielberg violated all the principles and laws of physics for the sake of spectacular shots. When repelling the landing in the Omaha sector, German machine gunners effectively kill American soldiers under water, although ordinary bullets can not only ricochet off the water surface, but also almost instantly lose their lethal force, changing their trajectory.
This behavior of conventional ammunition in water is easily explained by their aerodynamic shape, which makes the trajectory of the bullet underwater almost unpredictable. According to experts, at the border of water layers of different temperatures, the bullet can simply ricochet. Moreover, because of its shape, the bullet very quickly loses all its energy, and with it its destructive power, becoming a useless piece of metal. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to hit the enemy in the water with conventional weapons; even a Kalashnikov assault rifle will not help here when firing from a short distance. Another factor that does not allow the effective use of standard types of bullets under water is that ordinary lead bullets with a tombac sheath can deform and simply collapse.
Life, as you know, is not a cinema, therefore in many countries special weapons and special ammunition are created for underwater shooting. The engineers of the Norwegian company DSG Technology turned to the creation of special bullets, the new ammunition was designated CAV-X. The cavitating Norwegian ammunition is distinguished by its conical shape, in contrast to the classic ogival shape. The tip of the CAV-X bullet is specially made thicker, after the bullet hits the water, it takes on the role of a cavitator, creating a so-called cavitation cavity around the bullet, which allows you to hit targets under water at a distance that ordinary bullets cannot even dream of. Cavitating ammunition CAV-X provides the bullet with the preservation of kinetic energy under water, while they are not much longer than conventional bullets of the same caliber.
The Norwegians have already presented the CAV-X line of ammunition in three main small arms calibers: 5, 56, 7, 62 and 12, 7 mm. At the same time, the cavitating effect can be realized in large-caliber ammunition, up to 155-mm artillery shells. Another thing is that the methods of using such projectiles and the expediency of their use in practice raise a lot of questions. So far, it is not clear even with what weapon the new Norwegian CAV-X cartridges will be used, since conventional weapons without changes to the design are not suitable for use under water. Although no one forbids the Norwegians to use such bullets for firing at underwater objects from land, for example, to fight underwater swimmers and saboteurs. But this is a rather highly specialized niche, the military is not so often faced with the need to destroy underwater objects from land, so it is at least premature to talk about the massive purchases of new Norwegian ammunition for underwater shooting.
Russian cavitating ammunition
Naturally, Russia has its own ammunition for underwater shooting. A well-known example of small arms specially created in our country is the ADF two-medium machine gun. This rifle-grenade launcher can rightfully be attributed to the outstanding examples of the Russian weapons school. The assault rifle, which was put into service in 2013 and built using a modern and popular bullpup layout scheme, is equally effective against opponents on land and under water. Especially for shooting in water for the ADS machine gun, PSP and PSP-UD cartridges were created in the caliber 5, 45x39 mm, standard for Russian automatic small arms.
The combat cartridge is PSP, it is equipped with a bullet, which, as in the Norwegian CAV-X cartridge, is made of tungsten alloy. The PSP-UD combat training cartridge is equipped with a bronze bullet. Cavitating ammunition was specially designed for use with the ADS two-medium assault rifle and has proven its effectiveness when firing underwater. The combat cartridge is distinguished by the presence of a special tungsten bullet weighing 16 grams, a standard steel case of 5 caliber, 45x39 mm and a powder charge. In the Russian press, it was possible to find information that the bullets of the PSP cartridge retain their lethal force at a distance of up to 25 meters when fired at a depth of 5 meters. In this case, the energy of a tungsten bullet, fired at a target at a specified depth, after 20 meters is 167 J.
In fact, the secret is to use special gunpowder and an unusual bullet, already by its weight it is clear that this is not an ordinary ammunition. The PSP bullet is shaped like a needle, most of which is recessed into the sleeve. The length of the bullet is 53 mm, but due to the fact that most of the bullet is hidden in the cartridge case with gunpowder, the developers managed to keep within the dimensions of the standard Russian cartridge 5, 45x39 mm. Another important feature is the presence of a special flat platform on the tip of the PSP bullet. When firing under water, such a platform is necessary to create a cavitation cavity around the bullet, it is it that allows you to effectively hit targets separated from the shooter by 25 meters of water. It is worth noting that the PSP-UD combat training cartridge also has good characteristics, its bullet is made of bronze, but it allows, if necessary, to hit objects under water that are at a distance of up to 10 meters from the shooter.
