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Soviet Underwater Firearms of the Cold War

World War II saw the rise of combat divers and underwater demolition commandos, a new aspect of warfare which would evolve and increase throughout the Cold War. In the 1960′s the Soviet Union began to deploy special frogmen or divers whose duty was guard naval assets and protect them for enemy divers or commandos. Firearms are ineffective underwater since bullets don’t travel well through water. The following video demonstrates this problem…

Typically, early Soviet frogmen were armed only with a knife and if they were lucky, a speargun. In the late 1960′s the Russian engineer Vladimir Simonov sought to rectify this situation by designing a specialty firearm which could be effectively used underwater. What he created was the SPP-1 underwater pistol, which was adopted in 1971. The most unique aspect of the SPP-1 was it’s cartridge, which fired a 115mm long, caliber 4.5mm dart (4.5x40mmR) which was designed to be hydro-dynamically stable and thus able to travel through water. 

The pistol is a breechloading firearm with four barrels, with each barrel firing one at a time giving it four shots. Ammunition was kept in special clips to facilitate reloading. The barrels were not rifled as the projectile is kept in line by hydrodynamic effects. As a result the pistol has much less accuracy and range when fired outside of water. 

While the SPP-1 was a revolutionary design and was certainly useful, it had limited firepower, range, and penetrating power. Thus Simonov designed APS underwater rifle, which was adopted in 1975. The APS used the same kind of cartridge, firing a 120mm long, caliber 5.66mm dart (5.66x39mm). Using a gas piston system similar to that of the kalashnikov, the rifle was semi automatic and was fed using 26 round detachable magazines. Unlike the kalashnikov it fired from an open bolt, as apparently have the action and barrel filled with water increase stability of the projectile when fire. Again, like the SPP-1 pistol it’s barrel was not rifled, giving it limited range out of water. 

The SPP-1 and APS was used by Soviet Special Forces and Naval Forces throughout the 1970′s and 1980′s. The designs were retired in the 1990′s with the development of newer designs such as the ADS and the ASM-DT.

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~ Nasca Vessel. Culture: Nasca Place of origin: Perú, south coast Date: 100 B.C. – A.D. 800 Medium: Ceramic

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荒木 経惟・藤田 朋子 ー 遠野小説 (1996)

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The Doll - Hans Bellmer

My edit

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