The line of individual automatic weapons SCAR of the firm from Belgium "FN Herstal" (FN Herstal) has replenished with new models. One of the samples is a 5, 56 mm automatic rifle, which received the IAR index.
This rifle looks very similar to the SCAR L / Mk 16 rifle, but has a very original automatic system. It makes it possible to fire very high intensity. For this, a system is used that changes the modes of operation of the weapon. When the barrel heating level is low, fire is fired from the "front sear" (before firing, the bolt is in the forward position), when the heating level is high, from the "rear sear" (the shutter is in the rear position before firing, the barrel breech is open). The massive barrel contributes to and makes it possible to conduct intensive continuous fire with high accuracy of fire. When conducting single shooting, the developers declared an accuracy of one arc minute, which is characteristic of a sniper weapon. The weight of the rifle is 5.08 kg without ammunition, the rate of fire is about 650 rds / min.
Even despite the systematically declared thesis that the current sniper rifle with high firing accuracy is not required to have automatic equipment, because ideally only one shot is required to destroy a target, various companies are trying to create automatic or semi-automatic sniper rifles.
Another similar attempt was made by experts from Belgium.
Based on the SCAR H / Mk 17 rifle, they developed the 7.62 mm SSR (Sniper Support Rifle) sniper rifle. For firing, the same ammunition 7, 62 x 51 mm is used. The weight of the weapon is 5.04 kg, the magazines hold 10-20 cartridges, the barrel length is 508 mm.
New companies that produce small arms appear on the market quite systematically, and most of the newcomers have to make great efforts to achieve brand recognition. Against this background, a German company is very noticeable, named after one of the most famous gunsmiths of the last century - Hugo Schmeisser.
Interestingly, the main product of the Schmeisser GmbH is various modifications of the AR-15 / M16 automatic rifles, developed by the American Eugene Stoner.
The MSR sniper rifle manufactured by the US company Remington has a modular design.
Replaceable barrels, magazines and bolt larvae allow the use of cartridges 7, 62 x 51;.300 WM and.338LM (which provides an effective range of up to 1500 m). The "skeletal" type stock is made of light alloy, the rifle butt is foldable. There is a barrel cover. There is no mechanical sight. Barrel length can be from 508 to 686 mm, magazine capacity is five, seven or ten rounds.
Very interesting is the fact of the "return to service" of fully-fledged automatic rifles using a rifle cartridge, which would seem to be completely replaced by weapons designed for "intermediate" ammunition. In recent years alone, a whole line of new models of such weapons has been created. An example would be the Belgian SCAR-H / Mk 17 rifle, the NK417 rifle from Germany and the Swiss SIG SAPR751.
The latter was created on the basis of the Swiss SIG SG 50 rifle, but for ammunition 7, 62 x 51 mm. USM provides the ability to fire in semi-automatic and automatic modes, including bursts with a cutoff of 3 shots. The fuse-translator flag is double-sided. The stock of this weapon is plastic folding. The magazine holds 20 rounds, the rate of fire is 700 rds / min. Barrel length SIG SARP 751 is 417 mm, total length - 962 mm, weight without magazine - 3, 725 kg.
Separately, it must be said about the so-called rifle-grenade launcher complexes (SGK).
The experience of using individual automatic weapons during recent armed conflicts (primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq) has once again shown that the models of automatic rifles that are in service with the Western coalition forces do not fully meet the requirements for them. This concerns the level of safety, ergonomics, ease of maintenance and operation, effective firing range, destructive action. Modernization of the samples that are in service, and equipping them with the latest sighting systems did not fully solve the above problems. Based on this, in recent years, leading foreign weapons manufacturing companies have significantly stepped up the development of the latest weapons of this class.
Many of these developments are now either complete or in their final stages and are being vigorously promoted in the market. Their common features are a modular layout, widespread use of light alloys and plastics for the manufacture of main parts, the use of optical sights as the main ones, the possibility of attaching an under-barrel grenade launcher laid down at the design stage, and a decrease in the total weight of the complex.
So, for example, the 5, 56/40-mm Beretta ARX160 / GLX160 grenade launcher complex consists of a 5, 56-mm automatic rifle and a 40 x 46-mm underbarrel grenade launcher, which can be used as a manual one.
The modular principle of building the complex allows, after replacing a number of parts, to use cartridges 5, 56 x 45 mm, 5, 45 x 39 mm, 7, 62 x 39 mm, 6, 8 x 43 mm. Weapon ARX160 has quick-change barrels 406 or 305 mm long, resettable cocking handle. On it, you can also change the direction of reflection of the shot casings. Folding stock with adjustable length (four positions, adjustment range 65 mm). There are four universal attachment bars and six strap attachment points. Bilateral controls. The rear sight and rear sight are foldable. Weapon coating color is black and olive.
The widespread use of polymers, including in the design of the receiver, the magazine slot and the trigger housing, made it possible to reduce the weight of the weapon. A rifle without a magazine with a 305 mm barrel weighs no more than 3 kg, a grenade launcher in an underbarrel version - 1 kg, in a manual version - 2, 2 kg.
The ARX160 / GLX160 complex is the main one for the promising Italian infantry combat complex Soldato Futuro.
The 5, 56-mm automatic rifle ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) of the Remington firm attracts considerable attention of specialists.
The Americans offer a completely modern sample of individual weapons. Like the previous model of the Beretta firm, the ACR has a modular design and allows, after replacing a number of parts, to use ammunition of calibers 5, 56 x 45 mm and 6, 8 x 43 mm. The set of weapons includes quick-change barrels (3 options - 267 mm, 368 mm or 419 mm long). The stock can be either fixed or folding, adjustable length (6 positions, adjustment range 76 mm). It is possible to install a forend with 3 or 5 universal picattini rails. Weapon controls are bilateral. In order to reduce the reloading time, there is a shutter stop. The weight of the assault rifle with a barrel length of 419 mm is 3.72 kg.
In addition to the aforementioned new weapons, Czech gunsmiths presented another 5, 56-mm automatic rifle (submachine gun) CZ 805 BREN.
The model can be equipped with barrels of length 360 or 277 mm, has a resettable cocking handle. There is a possibility of producing modifications for ammunition 7, 62 x 39 and 6, 8 x 43 mm. In addition to the traditional semi-automatic and automatic firing modes, it is possible to fire in fixed bursts (2 shots each). The stock is removable, with adjustable length (four positions) or folding. The body of the store is made of transparent plastic. It is possible to use magazines from rifles and cartridges M16 / M4.
The controls are two-sided, there is a shutter stop. A new underbarrel grenade launcher TCZ 805 G1 has also been developed for weapons. The mass of the rifle without a magazine is 3.58 kg, the magazine holds 30 rounds, the rate of fire is 760 rds / min.
The CZ 805 BREN automatic rifle has been selected by the Czech Ministry of Defense for the partial rearmament of its ground forces. Arms deliveries are scheduled for early 2011.
The HK416 automatic rifle chambered for 5, 56 x 45 mm by the German company Heckler & Koch also has a lot in common with its predecessors - quick-change barrels (four options are provided), a folding buttstock with adjustable length, and four universal picattini rails. The controls are two-sided, there is also a shutter stop. An interesting development feature is the HK416 parts kit, which can be used to upgrade weapons of the M16, V14 series. In this case, the barrel with a gas engine, forend, bolt group and receiver will be replaced. Replacement of the buffer and return spring is also recommended.
The weapon kit may include a GLM grenade launcher.
It is impossible not to mention the SCAR complex of the Belgian company "FN Herstal". This complex includes a 5, 56 mm rifle SCAR-L / Mk 16 or 7, a 62 mm automatic SCAR-H / Mk 17 and a 40 x 46 mm FN40GL / Mk 13 underbarrel grenade launcher, which can also be used as a hand-held grenade launcher. In 2010, these models were adopted by the US Army Special Operations Forces.
The design features of the SCAR-L / Mk 16 weapon are quick-change barrels (3 options are provided) and a resettable cocking handle. The buttstock of the weapon is foldable, with adjustable length (6 positions, range of adjustment 63 mm), there are four strips of universal mount "picattini". The controls are two-sided, there is a shutter stop. The rear sight and rear sight are foldable. The receiver is made of aluminum alloy. The magazine is interchangeable with the magazines of the M16 / M4 series weapons. Coating colors black or olive.
This line of new products can be extended by adding to it the automatic rifles FN F2000 (Belgium), Sreyr AUG A3 (Austria), NK G36 (Germany) and, with some stretch, the Israeli IWI X95. Interestingly, the developers of new samples are much less likely than before to use the bullpup layout.
The identity of the technical solutions implemented in the designs of these samples indicates that the appearance of the 3rd generation machine gun, it can be assumed, is fully formed.
In all automatic rifles and SGK of the 3rd generation, optical sights of various types are used as the main ones, and mechanical sights are only auxiliary. These are single collimator or holographic sights or telescopic sights of low magnification (x1, 5-x4). In automatic rifles Steyr AUG A3 SF and G36, it is possible to install an additional compact single-shot collimator sight on the body of the basic telescopic sight. An alternative approach to this solution is the Specter DR sight produced by Eican (Canada), which has a fixed magnification x1, 5 and x6; switching between which is carried out by a lever on the body of the sight. Sight weight 0.7 kg.
Almost all used sights are sealed, and they also have a mode of coordination with the night vision module. The operating time of the scopes before replacing the power source can reach up to tens of hours.
Many developers also use optical sights for firing from under-barrel grenade launchers, for which a number of companies have developed automated sighting optoelectronic systems. For shooting from automatic rifles, in most cases, it is quite possible only to have an optical sight.
An example of such an automated complex is FCU 850-N manufactured by FN Herstal.
Designed for under-barrel and hand-held 40-mm grenade launchers, the complex makes it possible to measure the elevation angle and range of the target, automatic calculation of the trajectory (you can enter the data from the firing table of 50 types of ammunition into memory). The maximum possible firing range with the FCU 850-N is 380 m, the weight without batteries is 0.53 kg.
For a long time, foreign 40-mm grenade launcher ammunition was divided into 2 large categories - low-speed 40 x 46 mm and high-speed with a sleeve length of 53 mm. The former, which were intended for under-barrel and hand-held grenade launchers, provide a maximum firing range of up to 400 m. The latter, used in automatic grenade launchers, up to 2,100-2,200 m. Not so long ago, the Rippel Effect company from South Africa proposed intermediate, medium-speed shots with a sleeve length of 51 mm, which could only be used in grenade launchers specially designed for these shots. The firing range of these ammunition reached 800 m.
The Singapore-based company ST Kinetics has offered its version of the medium-speed 40 x 46 mm rounds for hand grenade launchers. The difference between Asian ammunition is that it can be used for firing grenade launchers, originally developed for low-velocity ammunition and which are widely used. The firing range of fragmentation and fragmentation-cumulative grenades is about 600 m, but this is one and a half times longer than that of the standard 40 x 60-mm rounds. In addition, the dispersion characteristics have been significantly improved.
The same manufacturer presented a new modification of the HV ABMS fire control system for 40-mm automatic grenade launchers (Mk 19, NK GMG, etc.), which provides remote detonation of grenades. The complex includes: a 40-mm round with a programmable fuse, an aiming system with a laser rangefinder and a fuse programmer, which is installed on the muzzle of the barrel. The weight of the system with batteries is 6 kg, dimensions are 350 x 230 x 160 mm.
The LV ABMS complex, similar in purpose, is also offered for 40-mm grenade launchers and hand-held grenade launchers. Its features are low weight (0.35 kg) and small dimensions of the fire control unit.
