TP-82

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The TP-82 pistol (Russian: ТП-82) is a triple-barreled Soviet firearm that was carried by cosmonauts on space missions.

It is intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness. The upper two smoothbore barrels use 12.5 mm caliber ammunition, and the lower rifled barrel use 5.45 mm caliber ammunition. The pistol can be used for hunting, to defend against predators and for visual and auditory distress signals. The detachable buttstock is also a machete sheath.

TP-82s were carried regularly on Soviet and Russian space missions from 1986 to 2006. They were part of the Soyuz Portable Survival Kit (Носимый аварийный запас, Nosimyi Avariynyi Zapas, NAZ). In 2007, the media reported that the remaining ammunition for the TP-82 had become unusable and that a regular automatic pistol would be used on future missions.

[edit] References