- Underwater firearm
An underwater firearm is a firearm specially designed for use underwater by
frogmen . Underwater firearms were first conceived during theCold War during the 1960s and 1970s as a way to arm frogmen, and remain in arms inventories today. A common feature of all underwater firarms is that they fire steel darts instead of standard bullets, because standard bullets do not work well underwater. Their barrels are not rifled; the fired projectile is kept in line underwater byhydrodynamic effects, and is somewhat inaccurate when fired out of water.One of the continuing design challenges of underwater firearms has been the need for a weapon useful both in the water and in air, although the
ASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle seems to have solved this problem by allowing it to fire both ordinary ammunition for above water use and steel darts for underwater use.There is said to have been a real incident when Russian frogmen shot two anti-frogman dolphins.Fact|date=August 2008
The underwater rifles are more powerful than the underwater pistols (and look more impressive in frogmen's group photographs), but the underwater pistols are more easily swung sideways quickly underwater at a target.
Examples
oviet Union / Russia
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APS Underwater Assault Rifle
*ASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle
*SPP-1 Underwater Pistol United States
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M1 Underwater Defense Gun The
speargun is a type of underwater firearm.A variant of the
Gyrojet called the Lancejet was considered for use by the United States military, but the inaccuracy of the weapon eventually removed it from consideration.Germany
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Heckler & Koch P11 References
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External links
* [http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3198 Weapons Development Goes Underwater - ZDnet]
* [http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/06/underwater_guns Splash, Splash, You're Dead: The Military's Next-Gen Water Gun - Wired]
* [http://weaponsas.narod.ru/Spec_Sovror-pl.htm Современное оружие боевого пловца (Contemporary weapon of the combat swimmer)] (in Russian)
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