ASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Underwater Assault rifle |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2000s |
The ASM-DT is a Russian folding-stock underwater firearm. It emerged in the 1990s.
[edit] History
The introduction of the APS Underwater Assault Rifle solved the problem of arming frogmen guarding a naval base, but the problem of arming Spetsnaz combat frogmen on attack missions remained. They needed a weapon that would protect them equally on the surface and underwater. The APS was of little use out of water (maximum range 100 meters and inaccurate) and wore out quickly with a barrel life of only 180-200 rounds.
The Spetsnaz used the SPP-1 pistol, and the AK-74 rifle for battle out of water. The commandos thought that this arrangement was unsatisfactory, and demand did not cease about constructing a new weapon, an underwater automatic rifle which was as effective as an APS underwater and an AK-74 out of water.
Another problem was that a long smooth steel dart and a smooth barrel was best for it to fire underwater, and a normal-shaped bullet and a rifled barrel was best for it to fire out of water. To solve this the rifle had to fire one sort of ammunition underwater and the other sort out of water. In 1991 in the Engineering Institute of Artillery in Tula Yuriy Danilov (the rifle's project engineer) designed the ASM-DT to fire the two sorts of cartridges:-
- 5.45 x 39 mm 7N6. Standard Russian ammunition for use on surface, adapted for the ASM-DT's caliber.
- 5.45 x 39 mm MGTS. This underwater ammunition looked like the APS's ammunition.
The ASM-DT uses the same magazines as the APS while under water, and AK-74 magazines above water. The magazine release shifted forward when using AK-74 magazines, and the gas system automatically adjusts for above-water fire.
The barrel was rifled for firing outside of water, and the barrel had shallow grooves running along its length to allow some gun gas to blow ahead of the bullet and blow any water out of the barrel, preventing the barrel from bursting when fired outside of water.
The ASM-DT rifle was accepted in 2000 by Russia.
It can be equipped with a GP-25 grenade launcher, bayonet, or suppressor (UPMS or PBS-4).
[edit] Bibliography
- Leszek Erenfeicht, Rosyjska broń strzelecka dla płetwonurków, Strzał 5/2003. ISSN 1644-4906
