In ancient times, divers used a knife as their main weapon. In the 1950s, with the advent of the first scuba gear, it became clear that a swimmer had a better chance of surviving an underwater battle if he kept his opponent at a distance. As a result, the knife was replaced by harpoon spearguns, which only proved effective for hunting or protecting against sharks. This weapon had low rates of speed, range, rate of fire and weak lethal force. It was very difficult to resist a specially trained enemy using only a harpoon gun. In this regard, in many countries, design work has begun on the creation of underwater multiply charged firearms. One of them was the APS underwater shooting machine developed by Soviet gunsmiths.
The article contains information about this underwater weapon and some similar models used by combat swimmers of other states.
History
In October 1955 inThe Sevastopol Bay of Novorossiysk suffered a terrible catastrophe, during which the battleship sank. For some time, there was an opinion among specialists that the cause of misfortune was sabotage. Despite the fact that in this case there were no signs of external interference, the events of 1955 forced the military to think about the question: how can it be more effective to resist submarine sabotage groups? In the 1960s, several units of combat swimmers were formed in the USSR, for which Soviet gunsmiths made an APS underwater machine (a photo of the weapon is presented in the article).
Developers
Research and development work was carried out at the TsNIItochmash enterprise in Podolsk under the direction of V. V. Simonov. The first version of the APS was assembled by designer P. A. Tkanev. Since 1975, APS have been mass-produced at the arms factory in Tula. Traditionally, soldiers of the Soviet special forces of the Navy were armed with these underwater assault rifles. Today, this underwater weapon is used by Russian and Ukrainian combat swimmers.
What difficulties did the designers face?
In the process of designing underwater small arms, the developers faced a problem, which was the presence of high water resistance. As a result of its entry into the barrels of automatic and semi-automatic models, steam accumulated, which rendered the weapon unusable. When creating an underwater special APS machine, these two factors were taken into account.
Problem Solving
Underwater APS submachine gun is used as an individual weapon by scuba divers for shooting at surface and underwater targets. Especially for this weapon, the designers developed a MPS cartridge (special marine cartridge) of 5.6 mm caliber, which contains a needle-shaped (arrow-shaped) bullet, the mass of which does not exceed 15 g. The bullet size is 12 cm. The head part has a narrowing. Outwardly, the bullet resembles a double truncated cone. Its head part contains a cavitation cavity, which is designed to provide a bullet:
- Stable movement in the water.
- Conservation of energy over long distances.
Due to the lack of barrel rifling in the APS submachine gun during the movement of the bullet, the creation of torque is excluded. When firing on the surface, the bullet does not stabilize and hits the target at a distance of up to one hundred meters, which limits the combat capability of scuba divers on the shore.
To perform combat missions, swimmers use APS underwater assault rifles and SPP-1 pistols (special underwater), which, like the assault rifle, is adapted to fire MPS and MPST cartridges (a special tracer marine cartridge used by combat swimmers to adjust shooting).
Due to the action of automation in the APS, the inert water resistance inside the system is overcome. As a result, the APS submachine gun can be effectively used for shooting underwater at line-of-sight distances. Such lethal forcebullets and muzzle velocity (365 m/s) are enough to pierce 0.5 cm organic glass and hit an enemy wearing a wetsuit.
Device
In the manufacture of the receiver for the APS submachine gun, stamped steel sheet is used. Despite the fact that this small arms is intended for operation under water, it differs little from a land-based assault rifle. The APS is equipped with an automatic reloading mechanism, which operates due to the energy of the powder gases removed from the barrel channel when fired.
The weapon is equipped with a trigger mechanism that allows the fighter to shoot both single and continuous bursts. To adjust the firing mode, the machine is equipped with a special translator. The place for its location was the left side of the receiver.
Thanks to the retractable metal wire buttstock, the machine is easy to operate. In field conditions, this butt is easy to slide into the receiver, and the machine guns themselves can be attached to the sides of underwater vehicles. APS is designed for 2000 shots under water. Its resource in the air is 180 shots.
How do underwater weapons work?
During the shot, the APS shutter, moving backwards, opens the barrel channel, removes the cartridge case from the chamber and extracts it. The return spring under the influence of the bolt frame is compressed, moves the cutter and sets the trigger mechanism on the cocking. After the trigger is pressed, the spring begins to actreturn mechanism. During its reverse movement forward with the help of the shutter, the next ammunition is sent from the magazine into the chamber and the barrel channel is closed. The receiver is equipped with special lugs that are designed to lock the bolt. Locking is considered complete if the bolt with its lugs has gone beyond these stops. The bolt frame, moving forward, interacts with the drummer, which, with the help of a striker, breaks the ammunition primer, due to which the shot occurs.
Ammunition
A box-shaped two-row magazine with a capacity of up to 26 ammunition has become a place for holding cartridges. Separation of cartridges in the store is carried out using a special plate. The magazines contain spring grips that secure the upper ammunition in the APS submachine gun. According to experts, there are no analogues of this underwater weapon in the world. However, it is known that in parallel with the development of Soviet weapons designers in other countries, attempts were also made to create perfect underwater weapons.
QBS-06
Combat swimmers of the People's Republic of China have been equipped with this automatic individual small arms since 2006. QBS-6 is an underwater submachine gun with which a diver can hit enemy underwater and surface targets.
The barrel of this weapon is locked with a rotary bolt, the handle of which is located on the right side of the machine. In the production of the receiver, stamped steel sheet is used. UnlikeSoviet APS, the Chinese model has a plastic handguard. Especially in order to make it convenient for a fighter in gloves to use the QBS-6, the trigger guards are made wide enough. The stems are uncut. Machines are equipped with shoulder wire stops. They can be folded if needed. Ammunition is contained in a box-shaped plastic magazine designed for 25 rounds of 5.8 mm caliber. Non-adjustable fixed sights have been developed for QBS-6 submersibles.
Chinese model specifications
The effective range of the QBS-6 depends on the depth of the dive. When using automatic weapons at a depth of 5 m, the range of the weapon is 30 m, and at a depth of 20 m, the cartridges are effective at a distance of 20 m. on the surface, however, this entails a decrease in the accuracy of hits and the resource of the machine. The QBS-6 uses the same concept and design as the Soviet submachine gun APS.
NATO analogues: BUW-2
In 1971, Germany developed a multiply charged semi-automatic underwater pistol BUW-2. Ammunition for him was active-reactive bullets, which are characterized by hydrodynamic stabilization. The cartridges are contained in a disposable block of four barrels. The firing range under water does not exceed 10 meters, in the air - 250. Ammunition is equipped with steel needles of 4.5 mm caliber. Their length is from 3 to 6 cm. Additionally, ampoules containing toxic substances are attached to the needles. Ammunition is supplied from a magazine with a capacity of 15 to 20 needles.
R11
The German company Heckler Koch developed the P11 underwater pistol especially for combat swimmers. This weapon is equipped with a replaceable block, in which the barrels are located, which are pre-equipped at the factory, and reloading can only be done in special workshops. After all the charges have been fired, the blocks are removed from the pistol. P11 is characterized by the presence of electric ignition of charges and is equipped with an electronic trigger that initiates each barrel electric primer. 9-volt batteries (two pieces) are used as a power source. Their location was a sealed compartment in the handle.
Due to the presence of an electronic mechanism, an easy descent is provided. Shoots underwater pistol with special 7.62 mm ammunition, which are equipped with needle-shaped bullets. Standard ammunition contains a bullet that has a lead core. Armor-piercing ammunition is equipped with a black-painted bullet, for which a steel core is provided. The pistol has an effective range of up to 15 meters underwater and 30 meters in the air.
Today, combat swimmers in Germany, Italy, France, Norway, the USA and Great Britain are armed with these underwater pistols.
