The best modern machine guns. The most powerful machine guns in the world
War may never change, but its tools have changed many times. Ever since humanity moved from spears and arrows to firearms, it never ceases to improve it every year. In this review, we invite you to consider the best representatives of the “weapons family”. We will talk about both large-caliber and light machine guns - new items and classic models, competing in rate of fire, power and lethality.
A single German HK 121 machine gun replaced the famous MG 3. No matter how good the “troika” was, everything ends sooner or later. The Bundeswehr needed a more powerful option to support its army, which was the creation of the weapons company Heckler & Koch. Smart layout, lethal power, quick-change barrel, possibility of installation on military equipment– what else is needed to make a machine gunner happy?
Caliber: 7.62x51 NATO
Weight: 10.8 (with bipod)
Length: 1165 mm
Barrel length: 550 mm
Power: Tape
Rate of fire: 640 - 800 rounds per minute
The Negev machine gun, produced by the Israeli concern Israel Military Industries, has proven itself to be a powerful and mobile support weapon. But its firing range and lethal effect for modern military conflicts it was clearly not enough. That is why the updated Negev NG7 entered service with the Israeli army, which corrected all the shortcomings of its predecessor.
Caliber: 7.62x51 NATO
Weight: 7.6 (with bipod)
Length: 1000 / 820
Barrel length: 508 mm
Power: Tape
Rate of fire: 850 – 1150 rounds per minute
FN MAG can rightfully be called the “Belgian horse” in the class small arms. The gunsmiths from Fabrique Nationale did their best, creating a truly good machine gun. A fairly simple and reliable design, combined with flexibility of use and adequate ammunition, has secured this machine gun a place in the weapons systems of over 50 countries, including Belgium itself, the UK, Australia, Canada, the USA, Sweden and many other countries.
Caliber: 7.62mm NATO
Weight: 11-13 kg with bipod (depending on modification), tripod weight 21 kg
Length: 1260 mm
Barrel length: 545 mm
Feeding: loose metal strip
Rate of fire: 650 - 950 rounds per minute
The single Pecheneg machine gun is intended to destroy enemy personnel and light equipment. It can also be used as an anti-aircraft gun. Thanks to its characteristics, it is rightfully considered one of the best examples of single machine guns in the world.
"Pecheneg" is capable of firing about 650 rounds per minute without reducing combat characteristics. This increase in survivability made it possible to abandon the replacement barrel. However, the Pecheneg barrel, as before, remains quick-detachable.
Caliber: 7.62x54mm R
Weight without cartridges: 8.2 kg on bipod; 12.7 kg on a tripod machine
Length: 1155 mm
Barrel length: 658 mm
Power: 100 or 200 round belt
Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute
Most domestic and foreign experts agree that the KORD heavy machine gun ( Large Caliber Weapon Dyagterevtsev) is the best of its kind.
In the armed forces, the KORD is called a “sniper machine gun” for its amazing accuracy and mobility, which is unusual for this type of weapon. With a caliber of 12.7 mm, its weight is only 25.5 kilograms (body). Also, “KORD” is highly valued for its ability to fire both from a bipod and from the hands at a speed of up to 750 rounds per minute.
Caliber: 12.7x108 mm
Weight: 25.5 kg (machine gun body) + 16 kg (6T7 machine) or 7 kg (6T19 machine)
Length: 1980 mm
Barrel length: no data
Power: 50 rounds belt
Rate of fire: 650-750 rounds/min
Heckler & Koch MP5K. The MP5 family of submachine guns from Heckler & Koch has been wildly popular around the world since its introduction in 1966. MP5s are compact, lightweight, highly accurate, reliable and powerful. The MP5K modification from 1976 with a shortened barrel and an additional handle for holding the weapon is considered one of the most successful.
Ceska Zbrojovka Scorpion EV03- this submachine gun with a scary name, designed in Slovakia and manufactured in the Czech Republic, launched on the market in 2010, has already proven itself quite well. The CZ EV03 is not ideal for full-scale combat, but due to its lightness, accuracy and ease of handling, it is ideal for police and special forces.
Heckler & Koch UMP- another brainchild of the famous German company, developed in the second half of the 1990s as an addition to the MP5 family. UMP has a simpler design, but uses modern materials- mainly polymers that are resistant to corrosion and stress. This submachine gun is used by special police and army units in many countries.
M2 Browning- the legendary heavy machine gun of the John Browning system, developed back in 1933 and still in production today. The United States used it in almost all wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, and during World War II alone, more than 400 thousand copies of its infantry version were produced. It is so accurate that it can even be used as a sniper rifle.
M1919 Browning- an older Browning model, adopted after the First World War and lasted until the 1970s. The machine gun was operated mainly in the USA, and was also supplied under the military assistance program to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Japan and the USSR. With a rate of fire of up to 600 rounds per minute, it was one of the most powerful weapons of its time.
M60- one of the most famous American machine guns, developed in 1957. It was rightly criticized for being cumbersome and unreliable, but continued to be used for many decades. Its final modification, the M60E4, released in 1995, could fire 850 rounds smoothly in less than 2 minutes without any problems.
FN F2000- a modern Belgian assault rifle from FN Herstal, lightweight and durable, with a polymer body and a plastic handguard, featuring a futuristic design. Can be used by both right- and left-handed people without the slightest modification. It is operated by special forces of a dozen countries around the world.
M240E6. The M240, which entered service in 1977, is used in both ground forces, so for installation on small vessels. The M240E6 is a modernized version of it, constructed using titanium alloys and thus much stronger and lighter.
Kalashnikov assault rifle- perhaps the most famous representative of automatic weapons in the world, and certainly the most widespread. Since 1949, about 70 million copies of this legendary domestic machine gun various modifications that are used around the world. The AK is incredibly reliable, simple and powerful.
Colt M4- American carbine, created on the basis of the M16A2, on this moment in service with all types of US troops. Additional equipment includes a silencer, optical and red dot sights, laser target designator and under-barrel 40 mm M203 grenade launcher.
For several decades after the end of World War II, designers of light armored vehicles in Western countries developed their own combat vehicles in such a way that their armor could withstand the armor-piercing bullets of the Soviet heavy machine gun S.V. systems Vladimirova KPV (GAU index 56-P-562).
This is explained by the fact that the one in service Soviet army The KPV machine gun was developed in 1944 as a weapon that optimally combined the rate of fire and accuracy of a heavy machine gun with the armor-piercing power of an anti-tank rifle.
The ammunition adopted for the machine gun - a 14.5 x 114 mm cartridge - was developed for anti-tank rifles in the late 1930s, its first samples with an armor-piercing incendiary bullet with a steel (metal-ceramic) BS-41 and a B-32 core were adopted for service Red Army on July 16 and August 15, 1941, respectively.
When firing from a KPV, the muzzle energy of an armor-piercing 14.5 mm bullet exceeds the energy of bullets from 12.7 mm machine guns by almost two times; at a distance of 500 m, these bullets hit a vertically located armor plate up to 32 mm thick, so it is not for nothing that the KPV machine gun is considered powerful a means of combating not only armored personnel carriers and combat reconnaissance vehicles, but also infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks. Possibilities combat use The KPV has been expanded due to the inclusion in its ammunition of 14.5 mm cartridges with armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets BZ T and BST, incendiary bullets ZP and instantaneous incendiary bullets MDZ.
Kovrov enterprise OJSC “Plant named after V.A. Degtyareva» in 1998, mastered the production of the 12.7-mm KORD machine gun (Kovron Gunsmiths Deggyarevtsy). The basic version of the machine gun is the tank version. It was assigned the GRAU index 6 P49. The infantry version has the GRAU index 6 P50. The need to develop and launch production of this machine gun is due to the fact that after the collapse of the USSR, supplies of a standard 12.7 mm machine gun Russian army NSV-12.7 from the Kazakh manufacturing plant "Metallist" were in question.
KORD is designed to combat lightly armored targets and enemy fire weapons and to destroy enemy personnel at ranges of up to 1500 - 2000 m.
The machine gun also ensures destruction of air targets at slant ranges up to 1500 m.
KORD ensures effective shooting from both prepared and unprepared firing positions, as well as from buildings, stationary or moving Vehicle at any position of the arrow. At the same time, the relatively small weight of the complex and the ability quick translation machine gun from traveling to combat position allows the crew to easily change firing positions. And this, in turn, increases survivability, surprise and effectiveness of impact on the target.
It is noteworthy that in terms of overall dimensions, weight and docking characteristics, the KORD is similar to the NSV-12.7 machine gun, which ensures the replacement of the latter in all machine gun weapon systems without additional technical work.
During the Great Patriotic War Red Army units successfully used a heavy machine gun DShK to combat enemy aircraft. The use of this machine gun as an infantry one was difficult due to its large weight - 155 kg.
At the end of the war, the DShK was retained in the small arms system of the Soviet infantry, but already in 1969, a group of designers consisting of G. I. Nikitin, V. I. Volkov and Yu. M. Sokolov was tasked with developing a new 12.7 mm machine gun , meeting modern tactical and technical requirements.
Work on the design, production of prototypes and their testing was completed in a relatively short time, and in 1972 the machine gun was adopted by the Soviet army under the designation “12.7-mm heavy machine gun NSV-12.7 (“Utes”).”
The abbreviation NSV was assigned to the machine gun based on the first letters of the designers' surnames - Nikitin, Sokolov, Volkov. The machine gun is assigned the index GRAU 6P11.
The infantry version of the machine gun on the alarm machine 6 T7 designed by K. A. Baryshev and A. V. Stepanov has the designation “NSVS-12.7”, index GRAU 6 P16. The NSVT-12.7 version (GRAU index 6 P17) has been developed for placement on anti-aircraft tank installations.
The airborne troops received a machine gun in the form anti-aircraft installation on the 6U6 machine, and for arming long-term fire installations, a machine gun version was produced on the 6U10 and 6U11 machines.
The Utes-M-12.7 shipborne turret-mounted machine gun mount should also be mentioned.
The machine gun has established itself as a powerful automatic weapon, providing reliable
On October 27, 1925, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, the body of the highest military power of the USSR, by its resolution ordered the Artillery Committee of the Main Artillery Directorate to develop a machine gun of a caliber from 12 to 20 mm by May 1, 1927. Unlike similar machine guns, which were being developed abroad at that time as primarily anti-tank weapons, Soviet machine gun intended to combat air force the enemy, while solving other problems associated with its use should not be to the detriment of this goal.
Relatively short term, allocated by the Revolutionary Military Council for the development of a machine gun, was due to the fact that they planned to borrow the English 12.7 x 80 mm Vickers.50 cartridge as ammunition, and the machine gun itself was to be designed according to the design of the German Dreyse light machine gun.
The design of the first Soviet heavy machine gun was entrusted to the designers of the Tula Arms Plant. The prototype of the P-5 machine gun (5-line machine gun) they presented received a negative assessment during testing, since the reliability of its automation turned out to be unsatisfactory and the rate of fire was not high enough. In addition, it turned out that the power of the English cartridge did not reliably defeat the armor of tanks of that time.
Based on the test results, the Cartridge-Tube Trust was instructed to develop a 12.7-mm high-power cartridge, the Tula Arms Plant was asked to modify the machine gun, and the Kovrov Union Plant No. 2 was involved in the work on creating a machine gun.
The cartridge designed by the Cartridge-Tube Trust was put into service
The single machine gun of the Kalashnikov system (PK, PKB, PKS, PKT) in service with the Russian Army is a powerful automatic weapon that ensures reliable destruction of enemy personnel and firepower at a range of up to 1000 m. Conducted in the late 1960s. The modernization of this machine gun was aimed primarily at changing the production technology of individual parts, which helped reduce the cost and labor intensity of its production. At the same time experience combat use machine gun showed that warming up the barrel during long-term firing significantly reduces the effectiveness of shooting, and thermal leads of the barrel make it difficult or even impossible to use optical and night sights. In addition, the formation of a stream of heated air on the surface of the barrel causes the effect of a “mirage” or “floating target” and leads to errors in aiming. At the same time, the spare barrel included in the machine gun kit, intended to replace a heated barrel, increases its weight and complicates transportation, maintenance and storage.
To eliminate this drawback, which is characteristic of many modern single machine guns, the designers of the TsNIITOCHMASH enterprise have developed a new single machine gun "Pecheneg". In the version of the light machine gun it has the index GRAU b P41, in the version of the heavy machine gun on the machine b T5 designed by L. V. Stepanovn - 6 P41 S. The light and heavy machine guns, equipped with a bar for attaching a night sight, are assigned the indices b P41 N and 6 P41 SN accordingly.
The new machine gun was developed on the basis of the modernized single Kalashnikov machine gun
In the battles of World War II, the German infantry successfully used the so-called single machine guns MS-34 and MS-42. On bipods they were used as light machine guns, and on alarm machines - as easel ones. These same machine guns were installed on armored personnel carriers, tanks and even airplanes.
Work to create such machine gun were conducted in the USSR in the 1930s, they were resumed after the end of World War II. In 1947 - 1960 More than 20 models of single machine guns were tested. By the end of the 1950s. a single machine gun was considered the most successful
PN designed by G.I. Nikitin. A series of PN machine guns was ordered to carry out military tests, work was underway to create a tank version of the machine gun in addition to the already developed light and heavy machine guns.
The disadvantages of the PN included the low service life of parts and the so-called hydrophobia - if water or condensate entered the valve of the gas outlet device, the reliability of the automation system left much to be desired.
In the second half of 1958, the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant was involved in the work on creating a single machine gun. The prototype of the single PK machine gun of the M.T. Kalashnikov system, presented by the plant at the end of 1958, initially did not cause delight among the company’s experts
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, production of Maxim heavy machine guns was launched in Tula, Izhevsk and Zlatoust. In 1942, 55,258 machine guns of this system were produced, however, in order to fully satisfy the front’s demands, it was necessary to mobilize additional production capacity. Since there were practically no enterprises not involved in the production of military products, it was possible to get out of this situation only by developing a new lightweight machine gun of a simple design, which existing enterprises could master in shortest time. Need
in the new lightweight heavy machine gun was also due to the fact that Maxim had a machine gun large mass and, as a result, machine-gun units had low mobility on the battlefield and could not effectively support the advancing infantry with fire.
I.V. Stalin, who knew Degtyarev well and believed in his talent, believed that a new heavy machine gun should be developed on the basis of the DS-39. The People's Commissariat of Armaments was also guided by this system, but in the summer of 1942, the designer of the Kovrov plant P. M. Goryunov presented everyone with a surprise - a model of the heavy machine gun he had invented.
To the credit of the People's Commissar of Armaments D.F. Ustinov, he was not afraid to support Goryunov’s work and, contrary to Stalin’s instructions, ordered the production and testing of his machine gun.
Tests of the Goryunov machine gun carried out in the spring of 1943 showed its undeniable superiority over the improved Degtyarev machine gun. This did not correspond to Stalin’s opinion, but he did not make the usual “personnel decisions” in such cases. As Deputy People's Commissar of Armaments V.N. Novikov recalled in his memoirs, having familiarized himself with the test report, Stalin “convened a meeting of the heads of the People’s Commissariats
The main automatic weapon of the Soviet infantry is the Maxim system machine gun with all its positive qualities It also had a significant drawback - its mass was too large. When conducting offensive operations, this circumstance made it difficult to use the machine gun itself and significantly reduced the tactical maneuverability of rifle units. During exercises, things sometimes got to the point that out of the 18 Maxim machine guns in the rifle battalion, only 6 were left in service, while the rest were sent to the convoy and the machine gunners were used as shooters.
Numerous attempts to modernize Maxim's machine gun was reduced to increase it performance characteristics and improvement of production technology. The problem of the large mass of the machine gun remained unresolved. For this reason, on June 13, 1928, the Red Army Headquarters decided to begin creating a new, lighter heavy machine gun. The Artillery Committee developed the tactical and technical requirements for this machine gun on August 2 of the same year. These requirements predetermined the main design features a new model, namely: in order to unify the system, convenience and ease of training, the heavy machine gun should be designed like a DP light machine gun, have an air-cooled barrel, belt feeding, a rate of fire of 500 rounds/min and a combat rate of fire of 200 - 250 rounds/min, weight systems with a machine weighing no more than 30 kg, an alarm or wheeled machine weighing no more than 15 kg.
The first version of a heavy machine gun, made taking into account these tactical and technical Maxim machine guns (GAU index 56-P-421). The main changes in its design were due to the adoption of a new 7.62 mm rifle cartridge with a heavy bullet mod. 1930 (7.62 D gl with a brass sleeve and 7.62 D gzh with a bimetallic sleeve, GAU indices 57-D-422 and 57-D-423, respectively). With less than that of a pointed (light) bullet arr. 1908, initial speed (800 m/s compared to 865 m/s for a pointed bullet), the bullet of this cartridge provides the greatest firing range - 3900 m, and the maximum firing range is 5000 m.
For this reason, the modernized machine gun of the Maxim system mod. 1910/1930 equipped with a modified rack sight with two aiming bars: one with divisions in hundreds of meters from 0 to 22 for a light bullet, and the second with divisions from 0 to 26 for a heavy one. A movable rear sight with the ability to make lateral corrections can move left and right along a special horizontal tube.
To increase the accuracy of long-range shooting, as well as to ensure the possibility of firing semi-direct and indirect fire, a machine gun was equipped with optical sight and a quadrant protractor. Periscope optical sight
In 1974, it was adopted by the Soviet army new complex small arms, including a 5.45×39 mm cartridge mod. 1974 (GRAU index 7 Nb), AK-74 assault rifle (GRAU b P20 index), RPK-74 light machine guns with a fixed stock (GRAU index 6 P18) and RPKS-74 with a folding butt (GRAU b P19 index). In 1979, the shortened AKS-74U assault rifle (GRAU index 6 P26) was also included in the complex.
The weapon systems included in the 5.45 mm complex are unified in many parts and mechanisms. The operation of their automatic reloading mechanisms is based on the use of the energy of powder gases removed from the barrel bore. The barrel bore is locked by rotating the bolt around the longitudinal axis, as a result of which the bolt lugs extend beyond the receiver lugs.
The RPK-74 and RPKS-74 light machine guns, in principle, have the same design as the RPK and RPKS chambered for 7.62 x 39 mm mod. 1943 Changes affected primarily the barrel and the power supply system. Four right-sided cuts are made in the barrel bore with a stroke length different from that of the RPK (200 mm). A slotted flash suppressor is attached to the muzzle of the barrel, which can be replaced with a blank firing bushing.
The barrel is made by rotary forging.
Unification, or bringing of samples military equipment and them components to a rational minimum of varieties, was one of the main directions of development of the Soviet small arms. Moreover, in the early 1950s. in the small arms system of the Soviet infantry, a paradoxical situation arose: in the arms of the rifle squad, in addition to manual anti-tank grenade launcher, there were three individual weapon systems (automatic Kalashnikov AK, self-loading carbine Simonova SKS and light machine gun Degtyareva RPD), developed for the same cartridge 7.62×39 mm mod. 1943, but completely different in design. This had a negative impact on the cost of production and repair of weapons and did not at all contribute to reducing the time it took to master them among the troops. For this reason, in the mid-1950s. In the USSR, the creation of a new complex of small arms began, consisting of a light machine gun and a light machine gun chambered for 7.62 x 39 mm mod. 1943. Work was carried out on a competitive basis in accordance with tactical and technical requirements No. 00682 (for an assault rifle) and No. 006821 (for a machine gun), drawn up by the Chief artillery department in 1955. The main goals of the work were:
— creation of lighter models of machine guns and light machine guns;
- in this case, the machine gun is being developed as a single model, intended for arming ordinary and
At the final stage of World War II, work was carried out in the USSR to create a so-called intermediate cartridge, more powerful than a pistol cartridge, but inferior in power to a rifle cartridge. It was put into service under the designation “7.62 mm cartridge mod. 1943." New machine guns and self-loading carbine. At the same time, field tests
cartridge arr. 1943 showed that destructive force its bullets and combat accuracy are quite satisfactory at a distance of up to 800 m, which, as combat experience has shown, is quite sufficient for light machine guns.
Creation of a light machine gun chambered for mod. 1943 was conducted on a competitive basis. S.G. presented their weapon options. Simonov, A.I. Sudaev, V.A. Degtyarev and other designers.
In the battles of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet rifle companies had a powerful means of fire support in the form of heavy machine guns of the Maxim system. This machine gun was an almost ideal means of defense, but after the transition of the Red Army to predominantly offensive actions due to the large mass of weapons machine gun crews could not always follow the advancing infantry and effectively solve fire support tasks. The maneuverability of machine gun units on the battlefield increased somewhat after the replacement of Maxim machine guns with lighter SG-43 heavy machine guns of the Goryunov system, however, the optimal solution to the problem of increasing the tactical mobility of company-level machine gun units was the creation of a 7.62-mm company machine gun mod. 1946 (RP-46), GAU index 56-P-326.
The RP-46 was developed by designers A.I. Shilin, P.P. Polyakov and A.A. Dubinin in 1946. In the same year it was adopted by the Red Army. The machine gun is designed to destroy manpower and destroy enemy fire weapons. The most effective fire from a machine gun is carried out at a distance of up to 1000 m. Sighting range firing range - 1500 m. The range of a direct shot at a chest figure is 420 m, at a running figure - 640 m. Fire at aircraft and paratroopers is carried out at a distance of up to 500 m.
The light machine gun of the Degtyarev DP system, adopted by the Red Army in 1927, was not inferior in its characteristics to the best examples of foreign light machine guns of the 1920s. The documents of the Artillery Committee of those years indicated that at present “there is no way to more successfully resolve the issue of a model of a light machine gun than the Degtyarev system.” Nevertheless, V.A. Degtyarev continued work on improving the DP even after it was put into service.
In the pre-war years, he designed and submitted for testing improved light machine guns mod. 1931, 1934 and 1938
Light machine gun mod. 1931 differed from the base model in the absence of a barrel casing, which helped reduce its weight. The gas chamber was moved closer to the receiver, and the return spring was installed in the rear of the receiver, with most of it located in a special pipe located above the neck of the butt and screwed into the butt plate of the receiver.
Developed in the USSR from the mid-1920s. the production of armored vehicles was hampered by the lack of powerful and sufficiently compact machine guns suitable for installation in tanks and armored vehicles. Attempts to use coaxial machine guns of the Fedorov system and conversion of Maxim-Kolesnikov MT machine guns based on the Maxim machine gun for this purpose only helped to temporarily smooth out the severity of the problem of machine gun armament for armored vehicles, but did not lead to its optimal solution. The power of Fedorov's machine guns, which fired 6.5 mm Japanese cartridges, was insufficient. In addition, this cartridge did not fit into the unified ammunition system of the Red Army. The MT machine gun was unreliable and too complicated. Therefore, it is not surprising that soon after the adoption of a relatively simple and reliable light machine gun of the Degtyarev DP system, a decision was made to create a tank machine gun on its basis. This work was carried out by designer G. S. Shpagin under the direction of V. A. Degtyarev. A prototype of the machine gun was made in 1928, and in next year The machine gun was put into service under the designation “7.62-mm Degtyarev tank machine gun (DT).” He was assigned the GAU index 56-P-322. The production of the machine gun was launched at the Kovrov Union Plant No. 2. In the pre-war years and during the war, it was installed on all Soviet tanks and armored vehicles.
The DT machine gun is largely unified with the DP infantry light machine gun. Its automatic reloading mechanisms also operate by using the energy of powder gases diverted from the barrel. The leading element of automation is
bolt frame connecting all parts of the moving system.
A significant achievement of Soviet gunsmiths was the creation in the 1920s. light machine gun DP (Degtyarev infantry), GAU index 56-P-321. V. A. Degtyarev, an employee of the Design Bureau of the Kovrov Machine Gun Plant, began developing this machine gun on his own initiative at the end of 1923. At that time, two groups of designers under the leadership of I. N. Kolesnikov and F. V. Tokarev were working on remaking the heavy machine gun Maxim system into a light machine gun. This way of creating a light machine gun made it possible to significantly reduce the time for its development and launch into mass production. Nevertheless, the prototype of the Degtyarev light machine gun, presented for testing on July 22, 1924, was not ignored.
In the commission’s protocol on the results of tests carried out in the same month, it was noted: “Taking into account the outstanding originality of the idea, trouble-free operation, rate of fire and significant ease of use of Comrade’s system. Degtyarev, to recognize as desirable the order of at least 3 copies of his machine gun for testing at the weapons range ... "
The importance of testing and fine-tuning the Degtyarev machine gun increased many times after the unsuccessful military tests of a light machine gun designed by Tokarev on the basis of a heavy machine gun of the Maxim system. This circumstance, however, did not at all lead to a reduction in the testing program for the Degtyarev machine gun, which was extremely stringent.
For example, during tests in December 1926, 20,000 shots were fired from two machine guns. Meanwhile, the situation with the provision of Soviet infantry light machine guns took on a dramatic character. Preserved from the First World War and Civil War The imported machine guns were badly worn out, their repair was difficult due to the lack of spare parts. There was also a shortage of 8-mm French and 7.71-mm British cartridges for these machine guns.
According to specialists of the Artillery Committee, a way out of this situation could be the development of a so-called conversion light machine gun based on the Maxim system heavy machine gun that was in general production. A similar solution was quite successfully implemented during the First World War in Germany, where the MC08/15 light machine gun was produced on the basis of the Maxim MC08 heavy machine gun.
A machine gun is a small automatic weapon designed to engage various ground, surface and air targets by firing short (up to 10 shots) and long (up to 30 shots) bursts, as well as continuous fire.
The question of the need to adopt machine guns into service with the Russian Army was actively discussed in Russia in late XIX century.
The famous Russian military theorist General M.I. Dragomirov wrote about machine guns: “If the same person had to be killed several times, then it would be a wonderful weapon.” Moreover, a special commission created in 1887, after studying the first machine guns, came to the conclusion that “machine guns are of very little importance for field warfare.” However, fearing that in equipping the army modern weapons Russia will lag behind other countries, the War Ministry purchased from the English company Maxim-Vickers a batch of Maxim-system machine guns on bulky wheeled artillery-type carriages, and from the Danish company Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat - two hundred so-called Madsen system submachine guns.
The standard “machine gun crew” target is familiar to anyone who served in the army. Despite all this, this support weapon remains in the shadows " younger brothers" - some pistols and machine guns are more popular Hollywood stars, but machine guns are remembered much less often.
AEK 999 “Badger”»
The Kovrovskaya development of 1999 is a modernized version of the Kalashnikov machine gun (PK) for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since police operations differ from combined arms operations in the limited use of heavy weapons, a single machine gun is often the most powerful argument against bandits. Accordingly, the fire load increases - if an army machine gunner can still count on a pause to change the barrel, then in the event of a police assault, overheating of a single machine gun puts the entire operation in jeopardy.
To increase the survivability of the barrel, engineers at the Kovrov plant used an alloy previously used only in aircraft cannons. This made it possible to increase the permissible threshold from 400 shots to 600 continuous fire. To prevent the observed picture from being “blurred” by haze, an anti-mirage channel is placed on the barrel.
Other interesting feature“Badsuka” is a low-noise firing device (LQD), rarely found in machine guns. It is similar to a silencer, but performs a different function - it reduces the acoustic load on the shooter himself, for example, if the firing position is located indoors. In addition, the PMS makes it difficult to detect the crew at dusk, eliminating the muzzle flash, and allows the use of night vision sights on the machine gun without the risk of matrix flare.
6P41 "Pecheneg"
“Pecheneg” is also a modernization of the PC, the unification of parts reaches 80% - which is not surprising, because the Kalashnikov machine gun was and remains one of the most successful examples of a single machine gun in the world. However, unlike the Badger, the 6P41 is a deep modernization of the original design.
The main difference is the presence of a metal barrel casing with slots, designed in such a way that when firing, the effect of an ejection pump occurs. In fact, Pecheneg has a forced air cooling system. With a single burst, a machine gunner can fire all the ammunition at once, that is, three belts of 200 rounds of ammunition - and after that the barrel will not go to waste. Without deterioration in characteristics (including thermal dissipation of the STP), the Pecheneg is capable of firing over 1000 rounds per hour at a high rate. This is achieved by equalizing the temperature background throughout the barrel, the total resource of which is 30,000 shots. Note that in 2013 a shortened “Pecheneg” for groups was introduced special purpose. The weapon, built according to the bullpup design (the impact mechanism is located behind the trigger), is equipped with Picatinny rails, allowing you to conveniently place a variety of sights, flashlight, laser pointer and other weapon accessories.
6P57 "Kord"
The design of the Kovrov gunsmiths-Degtyarev workers (KORD) is a Russian replacement for the heavy Soviet machine guns NSV “Utes” of 12.7 mm caliber, the production of which was established on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. Of course, the new weapon is significantly superior to its predecessor - for example, the Kord is one of the lightest heavy machine guns in the world (22 kg), and the only one that, if necessary, can be fired even from the hands! In this case, both the machine and the bipod are used regularly - in the infantry version, which significantly increases the tactical flexibility of the weapon. A carefully thought-out air cooling system ensures uniform heating of the barrel, which increases shooting accuracy compared to the Utes by 1.5-2 times. The extremely successful design of the machine gun made it possible to put it into service just a year after the end of development. It is curious that under common name“Kord” is paired with a machine gun to produce a long-range sniper rifle - chambered for the same 12.7 mm caliber ammunition.
6P62 Experimental
The prototype of a large-caliber machine gun attracts attention with its modest dimensions - length 1.2 meters, weight - only 18 kilograms. It is stated that the cartridge for this machine gun will be produced in 12.7 mm caliber. An armor-piercing core fired from a 6P62 barrel is capable of penetrating up to 10 cm of armor at one hundred meters. Obviously, according to the developers, this “mini-Kord” may be in demand in the Airborne Forces or in special forces units, actually replacing the RPG-7. Possessing comparable power, the large-caliber "short" is much more variable in use.
