Underwater 'Kalashnikov': Russia showcases first ever efficient amphibious assault rifle

Russian arms manufacturers have unveiled a new technological marvel – the world’s first ever assault rifle capable of shooting standard size cartridges both underwater and on land. Russian Special Forces units will soon be armed with the new gun.

Designed by Russia's Tula Instrument Design Bureau the ‘ADS’ gun can shoot underwater using a special cartridge, which in size is suitable for the standard magazine case Kalashnikov assault rifle.  To fire under water or on land, one only needs to replace the magazine of the 5.45 millimeter automatic rifle.

"Until now underwater fighters were compelled to use two types of weapon – for use under water and the Kalashnikov for overland firing. Now it is only necessary to replace the ammunition magazine," Nikolay Komarov, head of department of foreign economic relations of the manufacturer in Tula told rostec.ru

The ‘ADS’ is also equipped with a 40 mm grenade launcher. Developers believe that its effectiveness and accuracy are comparable if not greater than the legendary AK-47m.

The first ever machine gun of its kind was presented by the Russian developers at the XVII international arms exhibition in Moscow called " Interpolitex 2013” and in the near future will be deployed in the service by the Russian Defense Ministry. 

"The main feature of it is that the fire can be carried out both under water and on land. Currently, no country in the world has been developing such machine guns, they are developing only underwater guns,” a representative of the developer told Ria.

The weight of the machine gun with the grenade launcher is approximately 4.6 kg. The ‘ADS’ uses bullets of 5.45х39 mm at a firing rate of 800 shots/min with the aim range on a land of 500 m.

The rifle’s effective firing range underwater when using a specially designed cartridge is about 25 meters at a depth of 30 meters and 18 m at a depth of 20 m. The new underwater cartridge is externally very similar to standard 5.45x39 ammunition except for a different specially calculated bullet shape. The bullet length is 53.5 mm compared to an overall cartridge length of 57mm.

As compared to the Soviet underwater assault rifle APS that was designed back in 1970s, the new ADS is no less efficient when firing on land than a traditional Kalashnikov. Firing 5.66 mm caliber steel bolts, the APS with its non-rifled barrel is somewhat inaccurate on land. Out of water the APS’s lifetime was only 180 shots with an effective range of around 50 meters.

Completed in Tula in 2007, the ADS machine gun has undergone successful tests in naval special units in the Russian Defense Ministry in the North, Far East and the Black Sea. Rosoboronexport is promoting the new weapon for export.

This year the 17th “Interpolitex” is taking place in Moscow. Visitors can witness the latest defense technology for the police and military as well as medical equipment for emergency situations.

The showroom has four major exhibitions: police equipment, military- technical, protection and border security and Unmanned Multipurpose Vehicle Systems.

According to the organizers, 430 organizations  are taken part at the convention, including more than 60 companies from 23 countries, such as Belgium , Britain, Denmark, Germany, India, Israel, Spain , Italy , France , USA , Czech Republic, Kazakhstan , Belarus  and Ukraine.