APS Underwater Assault Rifle 5.56 mm
rebreather, riding a Protei 5, carrying an APS Russian underwater rifle
The APS Underwater Assault Rifle (5.56 mm) is a derivative of the AK47, designed and made in Russia in the early 1970's for use underwater by frogmen. Underwater, ordinary-shaped bullets are inaccurate and very short-range. As a result, this rifle fires a steel bolt 120 mm (4.75 in) long. Its magazine holds 26 cartridges. 'APS' stands for 'Avtomat Podvodnyy Spetsialnyy' = "Special Underwater Automatic rifle". The APS's barrel is not rifled; the fired projectile is kept in line by hydrodynamic effects. As a result, the APS is somewhat inaccurate when fired out of water. Its range decreases with increasing depth, presumably due to increasing backward suction caused by cavitation behind the projectile. The APS is longer range and has more penetrating power than spearguns. This is useful in such situations as shooting through reinforced drysuits, and protective (not air-holding) helmets, and thick tough parts of breathing sets and their harnesses, and plastic casings and transparent covers of some small underwater vehicles.
See alsoRussian SPP-1 Underwater PistolHeckler & Koch P11 Underwater Pistol
External linksPicture and informationRosoboronexport's web site (and on that page, left-click "Skip intro", then "Export products", then "Special forces"). As far as is known, no USA copy of the APS has been made in the real world.
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