Knight's Armament Company PDW

Infobox Weapon
name=Knights Armament Company PDW


caption=Knight's Armament Company Personal Defense Weapon
origin=flagcountry|United States
type=Personal Defensive Weapon
is_ranged=yes
service=
used_by=
wars=
designer=Knight's Armament Company
design_date=2006
manufacturer=Knight's Armament Company
unit_cost=
production_date=
number= preproduction prototypes
variants=
weight=4.5 lb [ [http://www.knightarmco.com/pdw.pdf KAC PDF Data Sheet] , accessed Dec 21, 2006]
length=28" overall / 19.5" with stock folded
part_length=10" 8" barrel available
width=
height=
diameter=
crew=
cartridge=6x35mm
caliber=
action=Gas-operated, rotating bolt
rate=
velocity=2,425 ft/s with 10" barrel
range=
max_range=200-300 m
feed=30-round detachable box magazine
sights=Iron sights,

The Knight's Armament Company 6x35mm PDW is an experimental personal defense weapon designed by KAC, firing a new 6 mm cartridge optimized for short barrel weapons.

As with all personal defense weapons, the KAC PDW is intended to be compact and lightweight (similar to submachine guns), but have a longer useful range (out to the low end of combat rifle ranges, 200-300 m). A PDW would be issued primarily to troops who are not offensive combat infantry, but who might need a highly capable defensive weapon if they were attacked, such as truck drivers, artillery troops, tank crews, aircraft crews, and other support troops. The KAC PDW is 10 inches (25 cm) shorter (19.5" vs 29.8" with stocks folded) and 1 or more lb (450 g) lighter (4.5 lb vs 5.5 lb) than the current "light" US Army and Marines weapon, the M4 carbine.

Design details

The KAC PDW combines new and off the shelf components in its design. The lower receiver, holding the magazine and trigger assembly, is essentially a shortened M-16 rifle lower receiver, [ [http://www.sofmag.com/news/permalink1/2006/11/7/2318133612237.html KAC's NEW PERSONAL DEFENSE WEAPON] , Gary Paul Johnston, November 7 2006, Soldier of Fortune Magazine website, accessed Jan 16, 2007] which makes the basic operating controls familiar to many potential users. The cartridge, upper receiver, and operating mechanism are all new designs by KAC.

The KAC PDW uses a completely side-folding stock, unlike the M-16 designs which have their main operating spring in a tube in the stock, and therefore can only partially collapse (and not fold sideways at all).

The barrel has been lightened with a new dimpling process.

Cartridge

The KAC PDW fires a 6x35 mm cartridge, a full centimeter shorter than the western military standard 5.56x45mm NATO round. The 6 mm cartridge has a slightly wider bullet, and the standard 6x35mm bullet is slightly heavier than the standard 5.56 mm bullet (convert|65|gr versus convert|62|gr). [ [http://www.knightarmco.com/pdw.pdf KAC PDF Data Sheet] , accessed Dec 21, 2006]

Fired from a convert|10|in|cm|abbr=on barrel, KAC claims that the 6x35mm cartridge reaches a muzzle velocity of convert|2425|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on, slightly faster than the muzzle velocity of a 5.56 mm cartridge fired from a similarly short barrel. The larger diameter, shorter 6 mm cartridge is optimized for these shorter barrel lengths, and would perform less efficiently from rifle-length barrels. 6x35mm muzzle energy is convert|831|ft.lbf|J|abbr=on versus convert|792|ft.lbf|J|abbr=on for a 5.56 mm bullet, again from the same 10" standard barrel.

There is a discrepancy between the velocity claimed by Knights' for 5.56 mm convert|62|gr|sing=on SS109 NATO ammunition fired from a convert|10|in|mm|sing=on Colt Commando barrel (convert|2400|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on, convert|792|ft.lbf|J|abbr=on energy) and other M-16 manufacturers' stated muzzle velocities (convert|2627|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on, convert|950|ft.lbf|J|abbr=on). In any case the energies and velocities are roughly comparable.

Operating mechanism

According to a weapon review article [ [http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=878 Defense Review article on KAC PDW and competitors] , accessed Dec 21, 2006] , the KAC PDW has two gas pistons tapping hot gas from the barrel to operate its mechanism, located on the top left and right sides of the bolt carrier. The single mainspring is located on top, between the two gas pistons. The bolt itself is said to be similar to an AK-47-type rotating bolt.

History

The new weapon was formally introduced at the 2006 NDIA Small Arms Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Some writers were shown samples at the earlier 2006 SHOT show. The weapon is currently not in production, but is available for prototype testing.

Competitors

Competing weapons designs include:
* Carbines, such as:
** M4 carbine
** Heckler & Koch G36C
** Heckler & Koch HK416
** AKS-74U
* Personal Defense Weapons, such as:
** FN P90
** Heckler & Koch MP7
** Heckler & Koch MP5K

References

ee also

* Personal defense weapon

External links

* [http://www.knightarmco.com/images/pdw1.html Knight's Armament Company PDW homepage]
* [http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=878 Defense Review article on KAC PDW and competitors]