World Of Weapons

FN P90 personal defense submachine gun The FN P90 Submachine Gun (SMG) was developed in the late 1980’s as a personal defense weapon. It was intended for troops whose primary activities did not include small arms, such as vehicle and tank crew members, artillery crews etc. Standard pistols and submachine guns chambered for pistol rounds had proven ineffective against enemy soldiers wearing body armor. Therefore FN designers first developed a new round with enhanced penetration, initially known as SS90. To achieve the necessary high penetration while keeping the recoil impulse low, FN used a small-bore approach, creating a round that looked much like a scaled down 5.56 NATO round. It must be noted that similar concepts were tried in other countries, most notably in the USA, several decades before FN. For example, the US Army tested M1 carbines chambered for the .221 Johnson Spitfire round back in the late 1950’s. Later on, Colt produced its .22 SCAMP and 5.6×30 MARS ammunition for the special SCAMP machine pistol and MARS “mini assault rifle” (a scaled-down M16 rifle) respectively. It must be noted that the 5.6×30 MARS round was in a sense a direct predecessor to the 5.7×28 FN SS90 round, although the latter featured a slightly lighter and faster bullet. By the late 1980’s the concept of a small-bore, low-impulse “personal defense weapon” (PDW) with good accuracy and lethality at ranges of up to 200-250 meters was well established, although there were no weapons adopted for service yet. FN decided to follow this concept and create its own PDW using a “clean sheet” approach. Basic ideas used for this development, designated as ‘Project 9.0’, included the following: - minimal size and weight - large magazine capacity - complete ambidexterity - ease of use and maintenance. To save on size and weight, the FN designers put the new weapon into a compact and lightweight stock of bullpup layout, made of impact-resistant polymer. The high-capacity magazine was also made from semi-translucent polymer, and holds 50 rounds in two rows. To further make the loaded weapon as compact as possible, FN designers followed the idea of American designer Hall, and placed the magazine above the barrels, with cartridges stored in horizontal position with bullets at 90°. While the Hall system employed a rotary feed unit, operated by the bolt, to put new cartridge in line with the barrel, FN designers incorporated a stationary helical ramp into each magazine, which rotates the cartridge 90° prior to passing through the feed lips. Complete ambidexterity was achieved by using duplicate controls (including dual charging handles and dual back-up open sights), and bottom ejection. Finally, simplicity of aim was achieved by the use of an integral reflex type collimating sight and integral laser aiming module (LAM). The resulting weapon appeared in 1990 as the FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon. This was alongside the improved 5.7×28 SS190 ammunition, replacing polymer-cored bullets with heavier dual-core (steel / aluminum) bullets giving better penetration against body armor. Several other types of ammunition were developed for this weapon, including tracer, subsonic ball and soft-core training ball. The first sales of P90 were made to Saudi Arabia in the early 1990’s. Today it is believed that FN sold more than 20 000 P90’s to a wide variety of law enforcement agencies and military special operation units worldwide, including the US Secret Service, Austrian Army rangers, Dutch BBE Special Operations Forces, the Belgian Army among others. Most interestingly, the adoption of the P90 so far has generally been in direct opposition to what was originally intended: That of a “personal defense weapon”. In fact, most services and various agencies use it as an offensive weapon, as a specialist or even primary weapon for various assault teams. Also other “professional small-arms users”, as opposed to military personnel whose primary functions do not include the use of small arms. In around 1995 FN supplemented the P90 with a pistol design, firing the same 5.7×28 ammunition, designated as the FN Five-seveN. Recently, FN also introduced a civilian version of the P90, designated as the PS90 carbine. This is a self-loading weapon with a longer barrel (408 mm / 16″).

FAMAS Bullpup assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO Introduction 00:00 Technical description 03:18 FAMAS stands for Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne (Assault Rifle by St-Etienne Arms Factory – a member of the French govt. owned GIAT Industries concern). Development of this rifle began in 1967, under the leadership of the Paul Tellie, a French arms designer. First FAMAS prototype had been built in 1971. French military began to test this rifle in 1972-73, but, in the meantime, France adopted a Swiss-designed SIG SG-540 5.56mm assault rifle as an intermediate solution. FAMAS rifle was adopted by the French in 1978 and since then became a standard French Army shoulder fired small arm, known among the French soldiers as “Le Clairon” (the bulge). According to the Janes Infantry Weapons 2000, the total number of FAMAS F1 rifles built is estimated at 400 000, and the production of the F1 variant has been completed before 2000. It is still used by the French army and was exported in small numbers to some countries like the Senegal or United Arab Emirates. Since then, the GIAT Industries developed an improved version of the F1, known as the G1. This rifle featured an enlarged trigger guard, that covered a whole hand, and a slightly improved plastic handguards. G1 was an intermediate design, and was consequently replaced by the latest production model, the FAMAS G2, which appeared circa 1994. This rifle has the G1-style enlarged trigger guard but can accept only STANAG type (M16-compatible) magazines. It was adopted and purchased by the French Navy in the 1995, but French army never get down to adopt it, so overall production was fairly small, about 10-15 thousand total. FAMAS F1 rifles began to receive midlife update (Picatinny rails, new bipods, forward grips etc.) in around 2010, but in 2014 all upgrade work has been cancelled in favour of purchasing entirely new rifles of foreign make. Since 2016 well-worn and aged FAMAS inventory is gradually replaced in French service with German-made HK416F rifles, although this process could take more than few years to complete. FAMAS rifles also served as a testbed for small arms part of the FELIN program (Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons Intégrés, Integrated Infantryman Equipment and Communications). Several thousands of FAMAS F1 rifles were upgraded between 2010 and 2014 to accept electonic equipment of the FELIN system. Among other upgrades, it included new forward grip with supporting bracket at the bottom and the keypad at the top rear, with several buttons that are used to operate and control onboard electronics.

Lahti L-39 antitank rifle "Elephant Gun" The L-39 antitank rifle (official Finnish designation 20 pst kiv/39, unofficial "Norsupyssy" – elephant gun) was developed by famous Finnish arms designer Aimo Lahti on request from Finnish army. Early prototypes were built around proprietary 20×113 ammunition, also designed by Lahti, but in mas production this was changed to more common 20x138B ammunition, which was more powerful, has wider selection of loadings (AP, AP-T, AP-HE, Incendiary etc), and was also common with 20mm AA guns, bought from Germany. About 1 800 of these guns were produced by VKT factory during the WW2, and although 20mm shells were rather ineffective against Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, Finnish army made a good use of this weapon to fight light armor, bunkers and other targets of importance. In 1944, an 'anti-aircraft rifle', known as 20 it kiv/39-44, was developed from the L-39, by adding select-fire capability and simple anti-aircraft mount. It must be noted that Finnish army kept its stocks of Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifles well after the WW2 – many were surplussed and sold to USA in early 1960s and last ones were scrapped or sold as surplus in mid-1980s. Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle is a semi-automatic, gas operated weapon. Gas piston is located below the barrel, and a manual gas regulator is provided in gas block. The bolt locking is achieved by vertically sliding locking block, which is installed in the bolt. When in battery, this locking block is forced up by cam surface in the bolt carrier to engage the slot cut in the receiver. After discharge, rearward movement of the gas piston and bolt carrier forces the locking block to fall down and unblock the bolt; after that, bolt is free to recoil along with bolt carrier. One unusual feature of the Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle is that bolt remains open after each shot, which allows the barrel to cool down faster after each shot. Despite that, gun is fires from closed bolt, and the firing sequence after each shot involves two deliberate actions. First, shooter must squeeze grip lever (located below the trigger guard) to release bolt forward. Once bolt is fully locked, shooter can pull the conventional trigger and fire the gun. Feed is from detachable top-mounted magazines, ejection is to the bottom. To reduce the felt recoil, rifle is equipped with massive muzzle brake and a soft shoulder pad. Standard iron sights are fully adjustable and calibrated between 200 and 1400 meters. Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifle was equipped with unusual "dual" bipod, with two sets of legs, one with spiked shoes for use on more or less hard ground and another with skid-type shoes for use on soft ground or snow.

Anti-tank guided missile 130 mm / 152 mm 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Technical description 01:02 The Skif, also known as the Stugna-P or Stuhna-P, is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the early 2010s by the Luch Design Bureau, a unit of UkrOboronProm. The initial guidance device PN-S (ПН-С) of the Skif was developed and manufactured by Belarusian design bureau Peleng based in Minsk. The Skif is designed to destroy modern armored targets with combined carried or monolithic armor, including explosive reactive armor (ERA). The Skif can attack both stationary and moving targets. It can be used to attack from both long range (up to 5 kilometres, 3.1 mi in the daytime) and close range (100 metres; 330 ft). It can attack point targets such as weapon emplacements, lightly armored objects, and hovering helicopters. Technical description: The Skif consists of a tripod, PDU-215 remote control panel, guidance device, and thermographic camera (thermal imager). Each round of ammunition comes in its own canister of either 130 or 152 mm diameter. The PDU-215 control panel is a briefcase-like laptop computer with a control panel, holding a small joystick and a flat-panel display, that is connected to the firing unit by a cable, allowing it be used at distances up to 50 metres (160 ft) away. Two firing modes are available: manual, and fire-and-forget. Fire-and-forget provides automatic control of the missile flight using a targeting laser beam. A three to four-person team is optimal for deploying the Skif. Operators require specially made backpacks. Once the missile is fired, the operator controls the Skif and corrects the aim when needed, by using the joystick on the remote control. The Skif's system has a shelf life of 15 years. The missiles have a 10-year shelf life. The system comes complete with 130 mm and 152 mm caliber missiles in transport and launching containers. Tandem charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) RK-2S warheads might be able to counter medium weight main battle tanks such as the T-90A with penetration of 800 millimetres (31 in) behind ERA. RK-2M-K warheads might be able to counter heavy main battle tanks such as M1A2 Abrams with their penetration of 1,100 millimetres (43 in) behind ERA. The system also includes high explosive (HE) fragmentation RK-2OF and RK-2М-OF warheads to attack infantry positions and light armored vehicles. The system can use all four types of missiles with no modification. The system's thermal imager can be used during night operations. A SLX-Hawk thermal imaging camera produced by Selex ES can be installed for use at night and in poor visibility conditions. The Ukrainian military only uses the 130 mm caliber missiles, as the 152 mm versions were made to compete against the Russian Kornet-EM on the export market. The upgraded Skif-M was unveiled in 2022, which has improvements such as a lighter tripod, a revised traverse and elevation housing, a new lightweight remote-control panel, new batteries to power the launcher and panel, and the new PN-U sighting and guidance unit (SGU) which includes a laser rangefinder. The Luch Design Bureau said the Skif-M had been delivered to the Ukrainian armed forces in September 2023.

9K333 Verba man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile 1.Introduction 00:00 2.History 00:27 3.Missile 01:39 4.Operations 03:26 The 9K333 Verba (Russian: Верба, "Willow") is a Russian fourth-generation man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) MANPADS. "9K333" is the Russian GRAU designation of the system. Its NATO reporting name is SA-29 Gizmo. History: The 9K333 Verba was originally developed as a replacement for the 9K38 Igla. The Verba's primary new feature is its multispectral optical seeker, using three sensors - ultraviolet, near infrared, and mid-infrared - as opposed to the Igla-S' two. Cross-checking sensors against one another better discriminates between relevant targets and decoys, and decreases the chance of disruption from countermeasures, including lasers that attempt to blind missiles. According to a KBM spokesperson, the Verba can engage fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and “new types of threats” such as unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles. “The 9K333 can effectively engage aerial targets with low infrared signature. The system can be coupled to an external identification friend or foe [IFF] unit,” the spokesperson said. The Verba's containerized 9M336 surface-to-air missile (SAM) can be integrated into ground- and sea-based short-range air-defense (SHORAD) systems. “The SAM can also be used by air platforms,” the spokesperson added. Missile: The SA-25 VERBA 9K333 uses the missile 9M336 with a new multispectral optical seeker which uses three sensors - ultraviolet, near-infrared, and mid-infrared - as opposed to the dual-waveband infrared used in the Igla-S system. This allows getting more information about the purpose which makes the portable anti-aircraft missile system more selective and sensitive. Increased sensitivity rises the range of the real target lock. The multispectral sensor enables faster discrimination between appropriate targets and decoys and decreases the chance of disruption from infrared countermeasures, including high-power flares and lasers. Its reaction time is within 8 seconds, and its warhead has gained 1.5 kg more weight – an increase of 20 percent. Three sensors are counterchecking each other, neutralizing aerial decoy systems. The seeker is picking out the decoys, selecting real target, which has the smallest thermal signature. The seeker`s sensitivity has been increased by eight times. As a result, the range of acquisition and elimination of aerial targets has been expanded by two-and-a-half times (compared to Igla-S MANPADS). The missile`s jamming resistance has been increased by 10 times. The Verba`s missile maximum range has been increased to 6 km due to the installation of a new jet engine. 9M336 missile has a flight ceiling of 3,500 m. Verba`s full ready-to-shoot weight (including the launching unit, SAM and battery) is 17.25 kg (38 pounds). Operations: The SA-25 Verba`s command & control (C2) system allows for detecting aerial targets (including the target sets), determining the flight variables and even distributing the acquired targets between launching unit’s operators. The VERBA 9K333 uses a new integrated automated control system (ACS) terminal offering the possibility to fire individually and as part of the battery. Through the ACS the commander uses data not only from ground radar but also, according to some data, even from early radar warning aircraft. It can see its targets in advance and then distribute them among operators of MANPADS in automatic mode. The ACS tracks potential targets before they are within engagement range, and automatically assigns the task to the launcher crew that is best poised to fire on the target. With the news ACS, the VERBA Verba crews’ reaction time is reduced by a factor of 10 (from a previous time of 3 to 5 minutes).

SAS-12 pump action shotgun The SAS-12 shotgun is manufactured by Shooters Arms Manufacturing Company of Philippines. It is intended for police and security use, as well as for home defense. It is available in two versions, standard and “tactical”, the latter being equipped with Picatinny-type accessory rails. The SAS-12 shotgun is manually operated, pump action shotgun. Instead of the sliding forend it uses movable vertical foregrip, located below the stationary forearm. To load the gun, one must pull the vertical grip back then return it to the forward position. Gun is fed from detachable box magazines, each holding 6 rounds of ammunition. Ambidextrous manual safety is located above the pistol grip, on either side of the gun. Rifle-type sights include front post and rear aperture-type blade, built into the polymer carrying handle. Shoulder stock is of retractable “M4 carbine” type, and is made from polymer.

HAL Tejas Multirole light fighter 1.Overview 00:00 2.Airframe 02:36 3.Avionics 03:25 4.Flight control system 06:43 5.Propulsion 08:26 The Tejas is a single-engine multirole combat aircraft which has a tailless, compound delta wing design with "relaxed static stability" for enhanced manoeuvrability and agility. The Tejas is a multi-role combat aircraft and its flexibility permits it to carry out Interception, air-to-surface and anti-shipping roles in a single mission. The wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics analysis have optimised the design of Tejas for minimum transonic and supersonic wave drag, as well low wing-loading. It was designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. There are three production models of the Tejas - the mark 1, mark 1A and a trainer version. The Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be ready for series production by 2026. Tejas has eight hardpoints – one beneath the port-side air-intake, one under the fuselage (centreline station) and three hardpoints under each wing, of these, three are wet hardpoints which can carry drop tanks. The hardpoint beneath the port side air-intake is dedicated to carrying sensor pods such as FLIR, IRST or laser rangefinder/designator. These can also be carried on the centreline pylon and inboard pairs of wing stations. The Mark 1A has an aerial refuelling probe on the starboard side of the forward fuselage. The Tejas weapon suite consists of I-Derby ER and Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and R-73, Python-5 and ASRAAM close combat missiles. The Tejas has an internal 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 twin-barreled autocannon under the starboard side air-intake. The BrahMos-NG supersonic cruise missile is being developed for the Tejas. The relatively smaller size, extensive use of airframe composites, the Y-duct inlet which shields the engine compressor blades, the application of radar-absorbent material (RAM) coatings and so on, reduces the overall radar cross-section of the aircraft. Avionics The avionics of the Tejas Mark 1 is centered around Elta EL/M-2032 radar. Its digital flight control computer developed by ADE and manufactured BEL. It has an electronic warfare (EW) suite domestically developed by Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), which consists of a radar warning receiver (RWR), integrated self-protection jammer, chaff and flare dispenser system. The upgraded variant of the Tejas Mark 1, named the Tejas Mark 1A, will have an AESA radar, new digital flight control computer, new EW suite and updated avionics. Some of the production Mark 1A fighters will be equipped with the Elta EL/M-2052 AESA radar, while rest are expected to fly with the domestically developed Uttam AESA radar. The new EW system for the Mark 1A, developed by DARE and known as the Unified Electronic Warfare suite (UEWS), will have electronic countermeasures and electronic counter-countermeasure capabilities, digital radio frequency memory based jamming and deception capabilities. The Tejas Mark 1A will also carry a pod-mounted self-protection jammer. The Tejas can also carry pod-based sensors such as forward looking infrared (FLIR). Currently the Tejas is cleared to carry the Rafael Litening III targeting/reconnaissance pod, while an advanced version named Litening 4I will be integrated on the Tejas. The Litening 4I pod enables the aircraft to carry out reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence gathering, in addition to target acquisition. The Tejas has an integrated health-monitoring system too. Propulsion Developing an indigenous jet engine for Tejas was one of the five self-reliance goals identified at the beginning of the LCA Programme. A programme led by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) to design and develop an indigenous powerplant, the Kaveri, was launched as early as in 1986. However Kaveri jet engine development faced some setbacks, hence the General Electric F404-GE-F2J3 afterburning turbofan engine was procured as an interim solution. Since 2004, uprated General Electric F404-GE-IN20 engines are powering Tejas variants.

Santa Barbara "Fusil Reformado" FR-7 / FR-8 bolt action rifle The FR-7 and FR-8 rifles were developed during late 1950s in Spain during their transition from military bolt action rifles to new, select-fire CETME Mod.58 assault rifles, chambered for then-new 7.62×51 NATO ammunition. The FR letters stand for “Fusil Refromando”, and both FR-7 and FR-8 rifles are conversions of the earlier Mauser type bolt action rifles, which were in abundance at the time because of adoption of new, more effective guns. The FR-7 rifles were converted from Spanish Model 1916 rifles, which are based on Model 1893 Mauser rifles, also known as “Small ring” Mausers. The FR-8 rifles were converted from Spanish Model 1943 rifles, which are based on Model 1898 Mauser action, also known as “Large ring” Mauser action. Conversions included new barrels, inserted spacers in magazines (to accommodate shorter rounds), shortened forends and new iron sights. The FR-7 and FR-8 rifles were issued to Guarda Civil units and also used for military training, as their sighting arrangements and ballistics were intentionally made similar to that of the CETME assault rifle. These rifles were used in Spain until about 1980, when Spanish armed forces began transition to the 5.56mm weapons, and many FR-7 and FR-8 rifles were then sold as surplus. The FR-8 rifle is a manually operated bolt action rifle. It employs Mauser type rotary bolt with two frontal locking lugs and single rear lug (FR-7 bolt has no rear safety lug), and Mauser-type extractor which provides controlled feed. Cartridges are fed from integral box magazine with 5-round capacity, which can be loaded using stripper clips or loose rounds. Barrel is equipped with muzzle brake / flash hider, which also can be used to launch NATO-standard rifle grenades. The short tube, located below the barrel, has mostly cosmetic purpose, as it serves to provide bayonet mount interface. Its inner space also can be used to store front sight adjustment tool or small cleaning kit. The iron sights consist of adjustable, hooded front sight and combination aperture/V-notch rear sight, which is made in the form of rotating disc. The rear sight disc has V-notch for 100 meters range and three apertures for 200, 300 and 400 meters range. Standard accessories also include rifle slink and a knife-bayonet, similar to that used with CETME Mod.58 assault rifles.

Santa Bárbara Sistemas 155/52 Field howitzer 155mm The Santa Bárbara Sistemas 155/52 is a 155 mm towed howitzer developed and manufactured by the Spanish company Santa Bárbara Sistemas (SBS). Description: This howitzer has a twin-mast mount, hydraulic stem-type brake and hydraulic counter-stem with moderator, pneumatic recoiler, screw lock with self-closing drive, three-stage muzzle brake and plastic biscuit shutter. It also has a 106 HP diesel engine that acts as an auxiliary power unit (APU) and gives it an autonomous speed of 18 km/h, allowing rapid entry and exit into position. Although the Spanish Army plans to equip itself with self-propelled howitzers on wheels, it is ruled out to develop a version of this type of this piece due to its high weight. The tube is an autofretted monobloc, with a length, as indicated by the name of the piece, of 52 calibers, that is, 52 times its diameter (155 mm), 8,120 mm. The chamber volume is 23 liters. The howitzer can use instantaneous, timed, proximity and electronic percussion fuses. The projectiles, for their part, can be breaker, smoke, illuminating and anti-tank. Its aiming sector in direction is -/+ 40° and in elevation -3/+72°. It has a hydraulic loading system, usable with any angle of fire and any type of ammunition. It is also equipped with an inertial navigation system and a ballistic computer. The manufacturing and assembly is carried out in the Asturian factories of La Vega and Trubia, although the raw tubes are supplied by the German company Rheinmetall, although their production, using the cold self-banding system, is done in Trubia.

Self-loading rifle Mondragon M1908 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Description 02:17 Introduction: Mexican general Manuel Mondragon began his work on new military rifles before the turn of XX century; as early as in 1896 he received patents for his straight-pull bolt action rifle with rotary bolt locking. Later on, Mondragon evolved this design into a gas-operated, self-loading rifle. His early experimental self-loading rifles were built for special experimental cartridges of 5 – 6 mm caliber; but in around 1900 Mondragon developed an improved system chambered for standard Mexican military rifle ammunition, 7x57mm Mauser. Further modification of this weapon, patented in 1907, was officially adopted by Mexican army in 1908 as "Fusil Porfirio Diaz Systema Mondragon", and manufacturing orders were issued to Swiss-based SIG arms factory, because Mexico has no proper arms making facilities. Because of political disturbances in Mexico, only few Mondragon rifles were issued to Mexican army; most produced rifles were left in Switzerland, and later were bought out by Germans, who were desperate for rapid-firing arms since the start of the Great War (WW1). Some of these rifles were fitted with 30-round drum magazines and issued to airplane crews as Fliegerselbstladekarabiner Modell 1915 (before light machine guns were taken into air), and few more were issued to front-line troops (with standard 8-round or extended 20-round magazines). The service life of these rifles in German army was rather short, as Mondragon system was sensitive to dirt and fouling, which were so typical for trench warfare of WW1 Nevertheless, Mondragon rifle was a remarkable weapon, which was well ahead of its time. Many of its features (gas-operated action, rotary multi-lug bolt) can be found in later and more successful weapons such as US M1 Garand rifle, and many others. Description: Mondragon rifle is a gas-operated, semi-automatic weapon which can be quickly converted into manual repeater (and back) by the turn of the gas valve, located at the front of the gas block. The operating system consists of a long-stroke gas piston, which is located below the barrel, and is connected to the bolt through operating rod, which runs from the gas piston and to the bolt at the right side of the receiver. Return spring is located below the barrel and acts upon operating rod. The charging handle has a special lever at its front which, when pressed, decouples the bolt and operating rod, so bolt can be cycled manually without need to compress powerful return spring. The rotary bolt is somewhat unique in that it has two sets of radial locking lugs, at the front and at the rear of the bolt body, resulting in very positive and strong locking. Bolt is rotated to lock and unlock through two spiral cuts, made on its right side. These cuts are engaged by the projections on the massive operating slide, which also hosts the bolt handle. Rear of the receiver has a spring buffer which is used to decrease recoil stress on the receiver in semi-automatic fire. Early experimental self-loading rifles of Mondragon design used en-block clips similar to that later used in M1 Garand rifles. Swiss-made production Mondragon rifles relied upon detachable box-type two-row magazines which held 8 rounds. These magazines could be reloaded either when detached or when installed on the gun, using stripper clips or single rounds, loading through the top of the open action. In German service, Mondragon rifles were fitted with extended-capacity 20-round box or 30-round drum magazines.

Shahed 136 - Geran 2 Loitering munition UAV 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Description 00:40 3.Deployment 01:33 4.Electronics 02:14 The HESA Shahed 136 ("Witness 136"), or Geran-2 ("Geranium-2") in Russian service, is an Iranian loitering munition in the form of an autonomous pusher-prop drone. It is designed and manufactured by HESA in association with Shahed Aviation Industries. The munition is designed to attack ground targets from a distance, fired in multiples from a launch rack (in batches of five upwards) to overwhelm air defenses by consuming their resources during the attack. Description: The aircraft has a cropped delta-wing shape, with a central fuselage blending into the wings and stabilizing rudders at the tips. The nose section contains a warhead estimated to weigh 30–50 kilograms (66–110 lb). The engine sits in the rear of the fuselage and drives a two-bladed pusher propeller. The munition is 3.5 metres (11 ft) long with a wingspan of 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), flies at over 185 kmh (115 mph), and weighs about 200 kilograms (440 lb). Range has been estimated to be anywhere from between 970–1,500 km (600–930 mi) to as much as 2,000–2,500 km (1,200–1,600 mi). Deployment: Because of the portability of the launch frame and drone assembly, the entire unit can be mounted on the back of any military or commercial truck. The aircraft is launched at a slight upward angle and is assisted in initial flight by rocket launch assistance (RATO). The rocket is jettisoned immediately after launch, whereupon the drone's conventional Iranian-made Mado MD-550 four-cylinder piston engine (possibly a reverse-engineered German Limbach L550E, also used in other Iranian drones such as the Ababil-3 takes over. Electronics: Despite no markings, experts believe the munition uses a computer processor manufactured by the American company Altera, RF modules by Analog Devices and LDO chips by Microchip Technology. Inspection of captured drones used by Russia during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine revealed that some Shahed-136 electronics were manufactured from foreign made components, such as a Texas Instruments TMS320 processor, a Polish made fuel pump on behalf of UK-based company TI Fluid Systems and a voltage converter from China.

Colt Canada C7 Assault rifle and C8 Carbine 5.56×45mm NATO In 1984, Canada adopted a new 5.56 mm assault rifle. To avoid research and design expenses, the Canadians simply purchased the license from USA for a new assault rifle, chambered for the latest 5.56 x 45 NATO ammunition. This was the Colt model 715, also known as the M16A1E1 rifle. Adopted as the C7,this rifle combined features from both earlier M16A1 rifles, such as full automatic fire mode and a two-position flip-up diopter sight, and from the newest M16A2, such as heavy barrel, rifled with faster 1:7 twist, better suited for 5.56mm NATO ammunition. Latter on, Diemaco (now Colt Canada) developed a short-barreled carbine version, fitted with telescoped buttstock, which was designated the C8. While the C7 rifle went to the Canadian armed forces, the C8 is in use with Canadian police forces. According to the recent trends in small arms development, Diemaco also produced so called "flat top"models of both the C7 and C8. These models have a Picatinny-style rail instead of the M16A1-style integral carrying handle with rear sight,and are usually issued with the Elcan optical sights, or with the detachable carrying handle with M16A1-type diopter sights. Designated by the manufacturer as the C7FT and C8FT, in Canadian service these models are issued as C7A1 and C8A1, respectively. Other derivatives are the LSW (Light Support Weapon, basically a heavy barreled C7) and SFW(Special Forces Weapon, a heavy barreled C8). Netherlands adopted the C7 (in both standard and flat top versions) in 1994, and Denmark purchased and adopted the C7FT as the Gevaer M/95 in 1995. Currently Canadian army is upgrading existing C7 and C7A1 rifles in Canadian service to new C7A2 configuration, which combines the standard C7-type 50cm barrel with C8-type telescoped buttstock, colored furniture,C7A1-type Picatinny rail upper receiver, and additional short Picatinny rails on the sides of front sight block for mounting sighting aids like laser pointers and tactical lights. C7A2 also is fitted with improved sight, Elcan C79A2. Other changes include ambidextrous magazine release and safety/fire selector switch, and other minor improvements Internally,the C7 differs very little from the original M16A1 rifle, with the mostvisible differences being the heavy M16A2-style barrel and A2-style handguards. Flat top models (C7FT / C7A1) are quite similar in appearance to the M16A3 rifles, and issued with Elcan optical sight along with backup iron sights. The C8/C8FT carbines are quite similar to the US M4/M4A1 carbines.

Taurus KEPD 350 air-launched cruise missile 1.Introducition 00:00 2.Overview 00:40 3.Operation 02:07 The Taurus KEPD-350 is a German-Swedish air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by Taurus Systems and used by Germany, Spain, and South Korea. Taurus Systems GmbH is a partnership between MBDA Deutschland GmbH (formerly LFK) and Saab Bofors Dynamics. In 1998, Germany funded the development of a powered system to be designated KEPD-350 with the acronym TAURUS (Target Adaptive Unitary and dispensor Robotic Ubiquity System). Overview.: The missile incorporates stealth technology and has an official range in excess of 500 km (300 mi).[5] It is powered by a turbofan engine. It can operate at Mach 0.95 and can be carried by Panavia PA-200 Tornado IDS, Eurofighter Typhoon EF-2000, Saab JAS-39C Gripen, McDonnell Douglas EF-18A+ Hornet, and McDonnell Douglas F-15K Slam Eagle aircraft. The dual stage 480-kilogram (1,100 lb) warhead, called MEPHISTO (multi-effect penetrator highly sophisticated and target optimised), features a precharge and initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter "hard and deeply buried targets" (HDBT) such as hardened underground bunkers, then a variable delay fuze to control detonation of the main warhead. The missile weighs about 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) and has a maximum body diameter of 1 metre (3.3 ft). Intended targets are hardened bunkers; command, control, and communications facilities, airfield and port facilities, ammunition storage facilities, ships in port or at sea, area target attack and bridges. The missile includes countermeasures as a self-defence mechanism and electronic countermeasures. Operation.: Mission planners program the missile with the target, air defence locations and planned ground path. The missile uses a terrain-hugging flight path, guided by inertial navigation system (INS), image based navigation (IBN), terrain referenced navigation (TRN), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to the target. It is capable of navigating over long distances without GPS support. Upon arrival the missile commences a bunt (climb) manoeuvre to achieve the best probability of target acquisition and penetration. During the cruise portion of the flight, a high resolution thermographic camera (infrared homing) can support navigation by using IBN and for GPS-free target attack. The missile attempts to match a camera image with the planned 3D target model (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator, DSMAC). If it cannot, it defaults to the other navigation systems, or, to avoid collateral damage, it steers to a pre-designated crash point instead of risking an inaccurate attack.

QJB-201/ QJS-161 light machine gun 5.8 × 42 mm The 5.8mm QJB-201 light machine gun is a relatively new squad automatic weapon, designed and manufactured by Chinese factories for the PLA. The QJS-161 light machine gun is a shorter and somewhat lighter version, intended for use by the Airborne and Special Forces units. Both weapons complement the new 5.8mm QBZ-191 assault rifles in the new Chinese army small arms system. The QJB designation stands for Qingwuqi Jiqiang Banyong – light weapon, machine gun, squad, while the QJS is for Qingwuqi Jiqiang Sanbing – light weapon, machine gun, paratroop. The QJB-201 light machine gun uses a gas operated action with a short stroke gas piston and a manual gas regulator. The gas cylinder is located below the removable barrel. The barrel locking is achieved by a rotary bolt, and the gun fires from an open bolt position, only in full automatic mode. Both the QJB-201 light machine gun and the QJS-161 light machine gun use dual feed system. The primary feed option is the belt feed unit, which is located at the top of the receiver. Both guns use same disintegrating steel belts. Belt feed direction is from left to right. Normally, belts are supplied from detachable containers that can be attached below the receiver. Alternate feed option is to use standard 30-round plastic box magazines from the QBZ-191 assault rifle. The magazine housing is located at the bottom of the receiver. Standard furniture includes a folding bipod, and a side-folding adjustable shoulder stock. Both versions of the gun are equipped with folding iron sights, and a short length of a Picatinny rail at the rear of the receiver, which can be used to mount telescopic or night sights.

FARA 83 Argentine Automatic Rifle 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Development 00:33 3.Main characteristics 02:12 The FARA 83 (Spanish: Fusil Automático República Argentina; "Argentine Republic Automatic Rifle") or FAA 81, "Argentine Automatic Rifle" (Spanish: Fusil Automático Argentino) was a rifle locally designed and developed for the Argentine Army in the 1980s. It is one of the first indigenously designed assault rifles in the continent. Development: The FAA project started in the early 1980s, when the government was still controlled by the National Reorganization Process. The DGFM (General Government Directorate for Military Procurements, or Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares) ordered a replacement be designed for the FMAP FAL, a FN FAL license-built in Argentina. The prototype was completed in 1981, but production didn't start until 1984, and continued until 1990. By the late 1980s, under Carlos Menem's tenure as president, the country was undergoing economic difficulties. The economic crisis severely limited the production of modern weapons. This factor forced President Menem to cancel several projects, including the Condor I and Condor II, the FARA 83, and SAIA 90. He was also forced to close armament factories, including TAMSE (Tanque Argentino Mediano Sociedad del Estado), which was responsible for the TAM tanks and Domecq Garcia Shipyard (the only submarine-related shipyard). Production of the rifle ground to a halt after 1193 rifles had been completed, however, it was resumed in 1990; it is unknown how many rifles were made, but for the most part the Argentine Armed Forces are still armed with the FAL rifle, while the FARA 83 is a secondary weapon. Main characteristics: The FARA-83 was mostly inspired by the Beretta AR70 (Model of 1982). Features include a folding buttstock and tritium sights for aiming in low light conditions; the rifle uses a proprietary 30-round Beretta AR70 magazine (early issue) and has a trigger group that enables semi-automatic and fully automatic fire.

M252 81 mm medium weight mortar 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Design 00:35 3.History 02:15 4.Method of propulsion 04:03 The M252 81 mm medium weight mortar is a British-designed smooth bore, muzzle-loading, highangle-of-fire weapon used for long-range indirect fire support to light infantry, air assault, and airborne units across the entire front of a battalion zone of influence. In the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, it is normally deployed in the mortar platoon of an infantry battalion. Design: The M252 system weighs 91 lb (41 kg) completely assembled and is composed of the M253 Cannon (35 lb, 16 kg), M177 Mount (27 lb, 12 kg), M3A1 Baseplate (29 lb, 13 kg), and the M64A1 Sight Unit (2.5 lb, 1.1 kg). The mount consists of a base plate and a bipod, which is provided with screw type elevating and traversing mechanisms to elevate / traverse the mortar. The M64A1 sight unit (also used on the M224) is attached to the bipod mount. The M252 is a gravityfired smoothbore system. Attached to the muzzle of the weapon is the Blast Attenuation Device (BAD), used to reduce the blast effects on the mortar crew. To increase cooling efficiency, the breech end is finned; though first-hand accounts attest that the level of cooling is negligible. The cannon also has a crew-removable breech plug and firing pin. High explosive rounds fired by the M252 weigh 10 lb (4.5 kg) and can have an effective kill radius of 35 m (115 ft). In 2017, the Marines revealed they were developing precision-guided rounds for the 81 mm mortar, similar to efforts for the 120 mm Expeditionary Fire Support System but in a man-portable system. History: The M252 is an adaptation of the British 81mm L16A2 mortar developed in the 1950s. It entered service with the U.S. Army and replaced the previous 81 mm M29 mortar in 1987. It was adopted due to the extended range (from 4,500 meters to 5,650 meters) and enhanced lethality. In the U.S. it is produced by Watervliet Arsenal. A lightweight version, the M252A1 was first fielded in December 2014. By using lightweight materials such as aluminum, titanium and nylon kevlar the total weight was reduced by 12 pounds (5.4 kg) to 79 pounds (36 kg). The M252A1 also required less maintenance with its internal gears greaseless. The M252A1 was scheduled to replace the M252 in 2016. In November 2016, the Watervliet Arsenal received a contract to produce the bipods which have an A-shaped bipod frame with deliveries to be completed by March 2020. As part of the same program, a lightweight version of the M224 60mm mortar the M224A1 was also developed. The Marines developed an improved M252A2 version that weighs about 8.16 kg (18 pounds) less than the original and incorporates a 4× magnification sight with a new cooling system. Method of propulsion: The range of a mortar is controlled by the number of propellant charges attached to the tail of the mortar designated M223. A charge is a semi-circular donut of nitrocellulose, which resembles a "horseshoe". A round for the M252 mortar comes with four charges attached. Longer-range shots require more propellant than can fit in the tail of the round, hence the necessity of external charges. When the target is ranged, a mortar team member adjusts the amount of propellant by removing horseshoe charges from the projectile. The mortar squad leader verifies the number of charges; then the assistant gunner drops the round down the muzzle of the tube. The round, pulled by gravity, accelerates down the smooth bore of the mortar until the primer (in the base of the tail boom of the round) strikes the firing pin located in the bottom of the mortar tail assembly. The primer detonates, igniting the charge in the tail fin, which in turn ignites the horseshoes charges on the round. The charges deflagrate, releasing hot, expanding gas which pushes against the round with the obturating ring on the projectile, sealing the gas behind the projectile. The pressure from the expanding gas accelerates the projectile until it leaves the end of the tube.

M1 Garand rifle .30-06 semi-automatic rifle Introduction 00:00 Technical Description 03:30 After the Second World War 06:35 Introduction: The story of the M1 Garand Is that of the first semi-automatic rifle ever widely adopted as a standard military arm. It began soon after the start of the First World War, when inventor John C. Garand (a Canadian, then living in the USA) began to develop a semi-automatic (or self-loading) rifle. He worked at the US Government owned Springfield Armory during the 1920’s and early 1930’s developing several different models. Garand’s early prototypes were built using the somewhat rare system of advanced primer ignition (API) blowback, but for various reasons this system was overly sensitive and therefore unsuitable for a military rifle. He switched to the more common gas-operated system. Garand filed a patent for his semiautomatic, gas operated, clip-fed rifle in 1930, and received a US patent for his design late in 1932. This rifle was built around the then-experimental .276 caliber (7mm) Pedersen cartridge. At the same time, his rifle was tested by the US Military against its main competitor, the Pedersen rifle, and was eventually recommended for adoption by the US Army early in 1932. US general MacArthur however, made a statement that the US Military should stick to the old .30-06 cartridge. Foreseeing this turn of events, Garand already had a variation of his design chambered for this caliber. Finally, on the 6th January, 1936, Garand’s rifle was adopted by the US Army as ‘Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1’. Early issue rifles showed quite poor characteristics however, jamming way too often for a decent military arm. A lot of noise was made that eventually reached the ears of the US Congress. In 1939, a major redesign was ordered. Garand quickly redesigned the gas port system, which greatly improved the reliability of the new weapon. Almost all M1 rifles of early issue were quickly rebuilt to adopt a new gas system, so very few ‘original’ M1 Garand rifles survive to the present day – now extremely expensive collectors’ items. When the USA entered second World War, mass production of the M1 rifle began at the Springfield armory and at the Winchester plant. During the war, both companies produced between them approximately 4 million M1 rifles, so the M1 Garand is the most widely used semi-automatic rifle of Second World War by far. Technical Description: The M1 Garand is a gas operated, magazine fed, semiautomatic rifle. Original M1’s used the gas tapped from the muzzle by a special muzzle extension (Gas trap operation). This was proven unreliable though, and since 1939, M1 rifles were built with a system using a gas port, drilled in the barrel near the muzzle similarly to modern assault rifles. The tapped gas was directed into the gas cylinder, located under the barrel, where it operated a long-stroke gas piston, integral with the operating rod. The long operating rod houses inside it a return spring and ends with the extension that carries a bolt operating groove at the left and a charging handle at the right. The groove connects with the rotating bolt, located inside the receiver. The bolt has two locking lugs that lock into the receiver walls. When the gun was fired, hot powder gases were led to the gas chamber and to the gas piston, that drove back the operating rod. The bolt operating groove interacting with the stud on the bolt, rotated the bolt to unlock it and then retracted it to commence the reloading cycle. The M1 was fed from an integral box magazine, which was probably the weakest point of the whole design. The magazine was fed using only 8-round clips, which could not be easily “topped off”, staying inside the magazine until all 8 rounds were shot. As soon as the magazine (and clip) became empty, the bolt was stopped at its rearward position by the bolt catch, and the empty clip was automatically ejected from the magazine with a distinctive ‘ping’ sound. The main drawback of the system was that the clips could not be easily reloaded during action, and enemies close by could hear when the rifle was empty. It was possible to refill the clip in the rifle, but this was not the fastest procedure. The M1 featured a wooden stock with separate handguards and a steel buttplate. The forwardmost part of the muzzle served as a bayonet mounting point. Sights on the M1 consisted of the front sight with dual protecting ‘wings’, dovetailed into the gas block at the muzzle. The adjustable peephole rear sights were built into the rear part of the receiver.

Schwarzlose M1907/12 Machine Gun German arms designer Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose patented a basic design for a machine gun in 1902. He subsequently sold his patent rights to the Steyr arms factory in Austria, which produced the first guns of the Schwarzlose pattern in 1905. After two years of trials and development, the military forces of the Empire adopted the Schwarzlose machine gun in 1907; this gun was also later adopted in a range of calibers by the Netherlands and Sweden (who both manufactured Schwarzlose machine guns under licence until the 1930s), and by Greece, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey – all before the World War I. In 1912 it was modified with the introduction of stronger parts and slightly reshaped retarding levers (struts). The primary visible difference between original M1907 guns and modified M1907/12 guns is the lack of the gap between the hump on the receiver and the barrel jacket on the latter guns. The Schwarzlose machine gun, although overshadowed by more famous weapons such as the Maxim or Browning, has its own merits. It is quite simple in construction, robust in service, and usually quite reliable. Its drawbacks come from its basic design, which centers on a retarded-blowback action. This action calls for a relatively short barrel so that the chamber pressure drops before the case begins to leave the chamber; otherwise, it would rupture – although when the Czechoslovak army converted their old 8x50R Schwarzlose machine guns to the more powerful 7.92×57 Mauser ammunition, they had no problems associated with high pressure, even with new, significantly longer barrels. Nevertheless, most of the Schwarzlose guns retained short barrels throughout their service life. This obviously limited the muzzle velocity and thus the maximum range and possible bullet penetration at any given range, compared with contemporary guns with a locked breech. The short barrel also called for a dedicated flash hider, to suppress the significant muzzle flash which otherwise would blind the gunner at night. Finally, the lack of primary extraction required an integral oiler, which squirted a small amount of oil into the chamber just before chambering the next round. Nevertheless, the Schwarzlose was a good weapon and saw considerable use through both world wars, although during the Second World War it was mostly relegated to second-line troops, fortifications and other such uses. The Schwarzlose machine gun is a retarded-blowback operated, water cooled, belt-fed weapon that fires from a closed bolt. The method of operation requires a heavy breechblock, connected to the receiver through a pair of knee-joint struts. When the bolt is in battery, the struts are folded forward, with their joint axis lying relatively low above the barrel axis. Upon firing, the pressure of the powder gases acts on the breechblock through the base of the cartridge case. The rearward movement of the breechblock unfolds the struts, but because of a carefully arranged redirection of forces through the struts and joints, most of the initial pressure is transferred to the receiver. Upon further recoil, joint axis rises above the barrel, and thus the recoil force is re-distributed with more and more of it being used for bolt acceleration. Upon recoil, the bolt compresses a massive and powerful return spring which forces it forward and into battery once the recoil stroke is completed. The charging handle is attached to the axis of the forward strut and has to be rotated back to cycle the bolt. Due to the lack of primary extraction, the Schwarzlose must use oiled cartridges. To avoid the problems associated with factory-oiled or waxed ammunition (which tends to collect fine dust and then cause jams) the gun has an internal oiling system which squirts a small amount of oil into the chamber just before the chambering of each round. The belt feed system is very simple and involves few parts. The major part is the star-wheel, located in the lower left corner of receiver. Upon bolt recoil, the star-wheel is rotated for one step by the interaction of the cam surfaces on the bolt and the wheel. The trigger system also is of rather simply design. It involves a separate striker, a striker spring and a sear, mounted on the bolt. The sear is cocked by a lever attached to the rear bolt delaying strut, and this cocking movement adds to the retarding force applied to the bolt. After cocking the striker is held to the rear by the sear. The thumb trigger is located at the rear of the receiver, and once pushed by the operator, it holds the connection bar, so it trips the sear when the bolt is in battery. A manual safety is located next to the trigger and blocks it unless pushed forward by the operator’s left thumb.

Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka", dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft 1.Introduction 00:00 2.Wings 01:16 3.Weapon System 02:05 4.Engine 02:32 5.Diving procedure 03:45 6.Deployment 06:22 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", from the German word for dive-bomber (Sturzkampfflugzueg), is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 and served the Axis in World War 2 from beginning to end. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its inverted gull wings and fixed spatted undercarriage. Upon the leading edges of its faired main gear legs were mounted ram-air sirens known as Jericho trumpets, which became a propaganda symbol of German air power and of the so-called Blitzkrieg victories of between 1939 and 1942, as well as providing Stuka pilots with audible feedback as to speed. The Stuka's design included several innovations, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high g-forces, or suffered from target fixation. The wing was the most unusual feature. It consisted of a single central section and two outer sections installed using four universal joints. The center section had a large negative dihedral (anhedral) and the outer surfaces a positive dihedral. The offensive armament was two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns fitted one in each wing outboard of undercarriage, operated by a mechanical pneumatics system from the pilot's control column. The rear gunner/radio operator operated one 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun for defensive purposes. The engine and propeller had automatic controls, and an auto-trimmer made the aircraft tail-heavy as the pilot rolled over into his dive, lining up red lines at 60°, 75° or 80° on the cockpit side window with the horizon and aiming at the target with the sight of the fixed gun. The heavy bomb was swung down clear of the propeller on crutches prior to release. The Ju 87 operated with considerable success in close air support and anti-shipping roles at the outbreak of World War II. It led air assaults in the invasion of Poland in September 1939. Stukas proved critical to the rapid conquest of Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France in 1940. Though sturdy, accurate, and very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was, like many other dive bombers of the period, vulnerable to fighter aircraft. During the Battle of Britain of 1940–1941, its lack of maneuverability, speed, or defensive armament meant that it required a heavy fighter escort to operate effectively. Diving procedure: Flying at 4,600 m (15,100 ft), the pilot located his target through a bombsight window in the cockpit floor. The pilot moved the dive lever to the rear, limiting the "throw" of the control column. The dive brakes were activated automatically, the pilot set the trim tabs, reduced his throttle and closed the coolant flaps. The aircraft then rolled 180°, automatically nosing the aircraft into a dive. Red tabs protruded from the upper surfaces of the wing as a visual indicator to the pilot that, in case of a g-force induced black-out, the automatic dive recovery system would be activated. The Stuka dived at a 60–90° angle, holding a constant speed of 500–600 km/h (310–370 mph) due to dive-brake deployment, which increased the accuracy of the Ju 87's aim. When the aircraft was reasonably close to the target, a light on the contact altimeter (an altimeter equipped with an electrical contact which triggers at a preset altitude) came on to indicate the bomb-release point, usually at a minimum height of 450 m (1,480 ft). The pilot released the bomb and initiated the automatic pull-out mechanism by depressing a knob on the control column. An elongated U-shaped crutch located under the fuselage swung the bomb out of the way of the propeller, and the aircraft automatically began a 6g pullout. Once the nose was above the horizon, dive brakes were retracted, the throttle was opened, and the propeller was set to climb. The pilot regained control and resumed normal flight. The coolant flaps had to be reopened quickly to prevent overheating. The automatic pull-out was not liked by all pilots. Physical stress on the crew was severe. Human beings subjected to more than 5g in a seated position will suffer vision impairment in the form of a grey veil known to Stuka pilots as "seeing stars". They lose vision while remaining conscious; after five seconds, they black out. The Ju 87 pilots experienced the visual impairments most during "pull-up" from a dive.

Norinco NRP9 (Chinese Police revolver) This new 9mm Chinese police issue revolver appeared in 2006. As of 2014, this revolver has been designated as the ‘Norinco NRP9’. It was intended as the future armament for various elements of the Chinese Police that were previously unarmed – such as traffic police, local municipal police etc. Since the proposed users are mostly unfamiliar with modern small arms, its a reasonable idea to issue the weapon which is the most simple to use – that is, the double action revolver. The ammunition for it, which is apparently based on an old and rather anemic .38 S&W (9x20R) round, retains enough muzzle energy to pose a threat to any unprotected low-grade criminal at short range. Even if this gun fell into the wrong hands, standard police body armor will be enough to stop that bullet. The muzzle velocity for the standard round is given as 220 m/s (720 fps). No bullet weights are given, but we can expect this round to be similar ballistically to .38 S&W, thus having muzzle energy of around 220 Joules (160 Ft-Lbs). Other than a standard round with a jacketed or JHP bullet,’less-than-lethal’ rounds with rubber bullets are provided for crowd control. Mechanically, this new revolver is of rather conventional design, with a double-action trigger and swing-out cylinder. The firing pin is mounted in the frame, and a coil mainspring is located in the grip frame. The barrel is enclosed in a separate jacket, styled after American Dan Wesson revolvers. The most unusual thing about this revolver is the additional manual safety lever, which is located on the left hand side of the frame, above the cylinder latch. Apparently, this safety blocks the firing pin. The sights are of open type, with the rear sight blade being adjustable for windage.

Double Action Revolver M1895 Nagant The M1895 Nagant revolver was designed in Belgium by the Nagant brothers (Emile and Leon) in the late 1880’s – early 1890’s, and was adopted by numerous countries. These included Sweden and Poland. Most of its manufacture and usage though, was undoubtably Russian (and later by the Soviet Union). The Russian government adopted the Nagant revolver in 1895, and local production began in 1898 (the first shipments were from Belgium). It was the standard Russian sidearm until 1930, when the M1895 Nagant was declared obsolete. it was however widely used and also produced during World War 2, and manufacture was only finally ceased circa 1950. Later, some sporting revolvers, both in 7.62mm and in .22LR were developed on the Nagant platform. Interestingly enough, the M1895 revolvers can still be seen carried by some security personnel in Russia, especially by Railroad Security and by some armed guards. Usually, those revolvers are 2 to 4 times older than the men who carry these guns.. From a technical point of view, Nagant revolvers were almost outdated at the moment of their adoptation in 1895, since the newest revolvers like S&W with Hand Ejectors or Colts with side-opening cylinders were much faster to reload. Sealed gas cylinder.. On the other hand, the M1895 had some unusual and interesting features, one of which was a sealed gas cylinder, which made the Nagant a rare example of a revolver suitable for mounting a silencer (suppressor). Such practice was known by the NKVD and some Red Army special forces (recon and scouts during WW2). A special suppressor, called a “Bramit device” was designed by the Mitin brothers and could be mounted on the barrel. Technical Description: The M1895 Nagant is a solid frame, seven shot revolver with non-removable cylinder. The loading and unloading was completed via the loading gate at the right side of the frame, each cartridge one by one. Spent cases were ejected by the ejector rod, which, when not in use, was concealed within the cylinder axis. It would be swung to the side on the ejector rod link when it was to be used. The original guns were double action, but the Tsarist government ordered that some M1895’s should be retrofitted with single action triggers and issued to enlisted men, while DA guns should be issued only to officers and police. In the Red (Soviet) Army only double action Nagants were issued. The sealed gas cylinder as mentioned above, was intended to trap all of the powder gases to propel the bullet (in most revolvers some gases escape out of the gap between the cylinder face and barrel breech). To achieve this, the cylinder moves ahead a bit when the hammer is cocked, enclosing the barrel breech area with a recess in the front of each chamber. The 7.62x38mmR cartridge, unique to that design, had a long case with a tapered mouth – the bullet was totally enclosed within the case. When the cylinder moves forward, the cartridge case mouth entered the barrel breech and was used as an additional seal. This was a complicated mechanism, mostly useful when the guns were used with a sound suppressor. While being somewhat complicated and relatively slow to reload, with ammunition of marginal power, Nagants were otherwise good guns, reliable, acurate and quite popular among the troops.

Double Action Revolver FN “Barracuda” The FN “Barracuda” revolver was the only known attempt of the famous company FN Herstal to produce a revolver. It was developed during the early 1970’s and offered up for police sales in 1974. This weapon was developed as a versatile police sidearm, fitted for the European and American markets. At the time, the US police market was dominated by .38 Special and .357 magnum revolvers, and the European police market was mostly taken up by pocket-type automatic pistols. Trends were starting to move towards 9×19 Luger caliber. Considering all that, as well as the very close similarity in bullet diameter of all of those rounds, FN decided to produce a revolver that could interchangeably fire them all. To change between “American” .357 / .38 calibers and “European” 9mm Luger (Parabellum), one must simply install the appropriate cylinder to a basic gun frame. As the 9mm ammo is rimless, to achieve reliable extraction and fast loading, 9mm rounds are loaded using special star-shaped flat clips that hold 6 rounds together. Rimmed revolver rounds are extracted using their rims, and can be loaded one by one or 6 rounds at once using the same speedloaders as developed for Smith&Wesson K-frame revolvers. 9mm rounds can also be loaded one by one without a clip, but extraction would be problematic. FN revolvers were of sound quality, but somewhat heavy and came to the market a bit late to sell well. It is believed that FN manufactured several thousands of these guns during the mid-70’s. The FN “Barracuda” revolver is a more or less traditional double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder. The firing pin is installed in the frame of the gun for better safety. It is of an all-steel construction, with solid frame and heavy, lugged barrel. Only one barrel length of 3 inches (76mm) has ever been available. Sights were fixed, with the front sight blade pinned to the barrel. Barracuda revolvers were promoted as multi-caliber and thus ought to have two removable cylinders, one for .38 and .357 caliber rimmed revolver ammunition, and another for rimless 9×19 pistol ammunition. each cylinder was marked with its respective caliber. It must be noted, however, that 9mm cylinders seem to be quite rare, and most available guns are in .38 / .357 caliber only. It is NOT advisable to load 9×19 cartridges into cylinders NOT marked for this ammunition.

M4 / M4A1 Carbine The M4 carbine was developed by the famous Colt company on request from the US Armed forces, as a shortened version of a then-new M16A2 rifle. It was intended as a personal defense weapon for non-infantry personnel, to replace ineffective handguns and obsolete submachine guns in this role. Colt received an initial development contract in 1984, and by 1986 first XM4 carbine prototypes were delivered to US Army for initial tests. It took several more years to finalize and approve the design, and in 1994 US DoD officially adopted M4 and M4A1 carbines for service. Until 2009, Colt company possessed intellectual property rights on the M4 Carbine TDP (technical data package) and was the sole supplier of M4 carbines to the US Military. Other companies produced similar clones as well, but those were sold either to civilian markets (in semi-automatic only versions) or foreign clients. In 2013 FN Manufacturing Inc, a US-based subsidiary of the famous Belgian company FN Herstal won a significant contract to deliver M4A1 carbines to US Army, and now it appears to be a major supplier of carbines to US DoD. Colt still makes select-fire M4 and M4A1 carbines too, and offers semi-automatic, civilian legal versions of the M4 carbine with 16-inch barrels. Early on US SOCOM selected the M4 carbine as a potential primary individual weapon for its operators, for its handiness and lighter weight. Subsequently, it developed the so-called SOPMOD M4 kit which includes a RIS forend and several ancillaries such as sights, forward grips, sound suppressors, etc. Initial combat experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in several desired updates, addressing the reliability and durability of the carbine. As a result, the M4A1 carbine and the M4 carbine are now fitted with a heavier barrel, which better withstands protracted and intense firing. Despite the shorter effective range and decreased lethality, as compared to the M16A2 or M16A4 rifle, by 2015 the M4 / M4A1 carbine became the primary fighting rifle for US Army and US Marine Corps Infantry units. As of early 2022, US Army plans to replace M4 carbines in the front-line infantry units with a new, much more potent weapon which is being developed under the NGSW program, but so far this program brought no definite results. If the NGSW program succeeds, the M4 carbine again will be relegated to its original role as the Personal Defense Weapon for non-infantry units. The M4 carbine is mechanically similar to the M16A4 rifle, except for the following major updates. It features a shorter, 14.5-inch barrel, and a telescoped shoulder stock. Internally it features a different bolt carrier buffer, shorter gas system, and an altered feed ramp cut in the barrel extension and the receiver, to ensure reliable feeding. Almost all M4 carbines, except for the earliest production run, feature so-called “flat-top” receivers with integrated Picatinny rail, which replaced the M16A2-style carrying handle. Most current production M4 carbines also feature RIS forends with additional rails. The M4 carbine can deliver semi-automatic fire and 3-round bursts, and its safety/fire selector lever is appropriately marked “Safe – Semi – Burst”. The M4A1 carbine does not have a burst limiting mechanism in its trigger unit, and its selector is marked “Safe – Semi-Auto”. All other properties of the M4 and M4A1 are similar. As a primary infantry weapon, the M4 carbine can be fitted with a knife-bayonet, an underbarrel grenade launcher such as M203 or M320, a sound suppressor, and a host of other accessories such as tactical flashlights, laser designations, and various day and night sights. For close combat, its standard upper receiver can be replaced with the Mk.18 with an even shorter 10.3-inch barrel. Another recent upgrade for USSOCOM M4A1 carbines in the 5.56mm SURG (Suppressed Upper Receiver Group), built by SIG-Sauer and based on their SIG MCX rifle.