Underwater Firearm
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An underwater firearm is a
firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...
designed for use
underwater An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a Water, body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the ...
. Underwater firearms or needleguns usually fire
flechette A flechette or flèchette ( ) is a pointed, fin-stabilized steel projectile. The name comes from French (from \''wikt:flèche, flèche''), meaning "little arrow" or "Dart (missile), dart", and sometimes retains the grave accent in English: flè ...
s or spear-like bolts instead of standard bullets. These may be fired by pressurised gas.


History

Underwater firearms were first developed in the 1960s during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
as a way to arm combat divers.


Design

Because standard bullet
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
does not work well underwater, underwater firearms commonly fire
flechette A flechette or flèchette ( ) is a pointed, fin-stabilized steel projectile. The name comes from French (from \''wikt:flèche, flèche''), meaning "little arrow" or "Dart (missile), dart", and sometimes retains the grave accent in English: flè ...
s instead of standard bullets. The barrels of underwater pistols are typically not rifled. Rather, the fired projectile maintains its
ballistic trajectory In physics, projectile motion describes the motion of an object that is launched into the air and moves under the influence of gravity alone, with air resistance neglected. In this idealized model, the object follows a parabolic path determin ...
underwater by
hydrodynamic In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in moti ...
effects. The lack of rifling renders these weapons relatively inaccurate when fired out of water. Underwater rifles are more powerful than underwater pistols and more accurate out of water, but underwater pistols can be manipulated more easily underwater. Among the many engineering challenges in designing underwater firearms is that of developing a weapon which can be effective both underwater and out of water. The ASM-DT amphibious rifle is an early example of such a weapon. First fielded by the Russian special forces in 2000, the folding-stock ASM-DT amphibious rifle is capable of firing two kinds of ammunition, both of 5.45 mm
caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...
: # 5.45×39mm rifle cartridge (7N6 enhanced penetration variant) for above water use # 5.45×39mm MGTS variant for underwater use. The projectile in this case is a steel dart, in length. When used against underwater targets, an underwater firearm may have a longer range and more penetrating power than
speargun A speargun is a ranged underwater fishing device designed to launch a tethered spear or harpoon to impale fish or other marine animals and targets. Spearguns are used in sport fishing and underwater target shooting. The two basic types are ' ...
s. This is useful in such situations as shooting an underwater intruder where the projectile may have to first penetrate a reinforced
dry suit A dry suit or drysuit provides the wearer with environmental protection by way of thermal insulation and exclusion of water, and is worn by underwater diving, divers, boating, boaters, List of water sports, water sports enthusiasts, and others wh ...
, or a protective
helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...
(whether air-holding or not), or a thick tough part of their breathing set and its harness, or the plastic casing or transparent cover of a small underwater vehicle.


Supercavitating ammunition

Supercavitating Supercavitation is the phenomenon of a Cavitation, cavitation bubble reducing skin friction drag on a submerged object and enabling List of vehicle speed records#Watercraft, high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theor ...
ammunition that functions better underwater has been developed by Defence & Security Group (DSG), a Norwegian company. The Multi-Environment Ammunition (MEA) series supercavitating rifle ammunition, developed and marketed by DSG, is anticipated to be useful for certain
special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...
, including underwater warfare. These include defensive applications such as diver protection, and offensive applications such as neutralizing enemy divers, VBSS (visit, board, search, and seizure) operations, MIO (maritime interception operations), GOPLATS (Gas and oil platform) boarding operations, speedboat interdiction and neutralization,
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
, anti-
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
operations, and certain counter-
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
operations. The ballistic characteristics of MEA series ammunition allows the user to fire at an underwater target from above the water, an above-the-water target from underwater, or an underwater target from underwater. This ammunition allows the user to fire from above the surface into the water at a very low angle of incidence—in some cases as low as two degrees—without
ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
. After entering the water, the bullet will continue its original trajectory. The user, when aiming the gun, needs to compensate for the
refractive index In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is the ratio of the apparent speed of light in the air or vacuum to the speed in the medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refrac ...
of the water (roughly 1.333 for fresh water at ). MEA series supercavitating ammunition is currently available in the following calibers: * 5.56×45mm NATO (accurate range of underwater) *
7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...
(accurate range of underwater) ** General Purpose ** Dual Core ** Armor Piercing * 12.7×99mm NATO ( .50 BMG, accurate range of underwater) ** Super Sniper Tactical ** Dual Core The underwater capabilities of MEA series
supercavitating Supercavitation is the phenomenon of a Cavitation, cavitation bubble reducing skin friction drag on a submerged object and enabling List of vehicle speed records#Watercraft, high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theor ...
ammunition allow it to be used for
unmanned underwater vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), also known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROUVs) an ...
(UUV) applications. The armed UUVs can be used in both offensive and defensive underwater warfare operations. Using the .50 BMG supercavitating cartridge, an armed UUV can potentially destroy steel-hulled underwater objects from a distance of , or could potentially hit a target in the air from a location below the surface.


Examples

; Germany: *
Heckler & Koch P11 The Heckler & Koch P11 is an underwater firearm developed in 1976 by Heckler & Koch. It is loaded using a pepper-box-like assembly, containing five sealed barrels each containing an electrically-fired projectile. Two styles of barrel assembly ...
; Soviet Union / Russia: * ADS amphibious rifle *
APS underwater rifle The APS underwater assault rifle () is an underwater firearm designed by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. It was adopted in 1975. Made by the Tula Arms Plant () in Russia, it is exported by Rosoboronexport. Under water, ordinary bullets a ...
* ASM-DT amphibious rifle *
SPP-1 underwater pistol The SPP-1 underwater pistol was made in the Soviet Union for use by Soviet frogmen as an underwater firearm.Popenker, Max R.SPP-1 underwater pistol ", '' world.guns.ru'', Retrieved 2010-04-05 It was developed in the late 1960s and accepted for ...
; United States: * AAI underwater revolver * Mk 1 Underwater Defense Gun * The Lancejet (an underwater variant of the
Gyrojet The Gyrojet is a family of unique firearms developed in the 1960s named for the method of gyroscope, gyroscopically stabilizing its projectiles. Rather than inert bullets, Gyrojets fire small Rocket (weapon), rockets called Microjets which have l ...
manufactured by MB Associates) was once considered for use by the United States military, but it was removed from consideration due to its inaccuracy under field testing conditions. (For other meanings see Lancejet.) ;China * QBS-06


See also

* *


References


Further reading

*


External links


Patent for an Underwater Revolver

Weapons Development Goes Underwater - ZDnet

Splash, Splash, You're Dead: The Military's Next-Gen Water Gun - Wired


{{Firearms Underwater firearms Weapons of the Cold War