ASM-DT amphibious rifle

ASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle
Type	Underwater Assault rifle
Place of origin	Soviet Union Russia
Service history
In service	2000s
Used by	See above. Unconfirmed reports of marketing to Western special operations units.
Wars	unclear due to secrecy
Production history
Designer	Prof. Yuri Danilov
Designed	1990s

The ASM-DT is a Russian folding-stock underwater firearm. It emerged in the 1990s.

History and design

The introduction of the APS Underwater Assault Rifle solved the problem of how frogmen guarding a naval base could be armed, but there remained the problem of how to arm naval Spetsnaz combat frogmen when they were deployed on assault missions. These forces required a weapon able to provide them with a level of firepower that would be the same whether they were on the surface or underwater. The APS was of little use out of water, because under those conditions it was inaccurate, with an effective range of only 50 meters. In addition, when it was used out of the water, it wore out quickly -- with a barrel life dropping from approx. 2000 to only 180 to 200 rounds.

For this reason, the naval Spetsnaz forces often fell back on using the SPP-1 pistol for underwater fighting, and the AK-74 rifle for combat out of water. The commandos thought that this arrangement was unsatisfactory, and there continued to be demand for a new weapon, an underwater automatic rifle that would be as effective as an APS underwater and an AK-74 out of water.

To meet this requirement, it had to be considered that a long smoothbore barrel was best for it to fire underwater. But, of course, the paradox was that a conventional type of projectile fired from a rifled barrel was best for firing out of water. To solve this, the rifle had to fire one kind of ammunition underwater and another kind out of water. This was achieved by having two different ammunition types and two feed slots with one behind the other, able to accept two different magazines at the same time. The design was done in 1991, at the Artillery Engineering Institute in Tula, Russia, where Professor Yuriy Danilov was the rifle's project engineer. Danilov designed the ASM-DT to fire both 5.45 x 39 mm 7N6 -- a version of the standard Soviet ammunition, adapted to the caliber of the ASM-DT -- and also 5.45 x 39 mm MGTS, underwater ammunition like that of the existing APS. The ASM-DT uses the same magazines as the APS while under water, and AK-74 magazines above water. The magazine release shifts forward when using AK-74 magazines, and the gas system automatically adjusts for firing out of water. To enable accurate shooting when outside of water, the barrel is rifled, however it has shallow grooves running along its length, which expel some gases ahead of the bullet and blow any water out of the barrel. This prevents the barrel from bursting if the rifle should need to be taken to the surface quickly, and fired outside of water without being drained first. In addition, the rifle can be equipped with a GP-25 grenade launcher, a bayonet, or a suppressor.

The Russian Federation accepted the ASM-DT into service in the year 2000.

See APS amphibious rifle for considerations involving shooting power underwater.

See also

• Underwater firearm
• ADS amphibious rifle
• APS assault rifle

Bibliography

• Leszek Erenfeicht, Rosyjska broń strzelecka dla płetwonurków, Strzał 5/2003. ISSN 1644-4906

External links

• Template:Ru icon ASM-DT amphibious rifle from DogsWar.ru
• Modern Firearms - ASM-DT Morskoj Lev (Sea Lion) dual medium (underwater and above water) assault rifle