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History
The Changing Face of Infantry Combat
From ancient times, light infantry had fought in dispersed formations, while heavy infantry had fought in tightly packed formations. This continued as the sling and spear were replaced by musket and bayonet. Bright colored uniforms (German: Blue, Russian: Green; British: Red, French: White) became a standard for unit cohesion in the midst of clouds of black powder smoke. Muskets were inaccurate at distances greater than 50 to 100 meters, and multiple ranks and a reserve were necessary so that some part of the unit would be ready to fire at all times. Tight formations also aided officers in controlling their men during combat.
The adaptation of rifled muskets for military use in the mid-19th century increased range and firepower and made battle from dense formations an increasingly bloody affair as witnessed by the high level of casualties in the American Civil War. Skirmisher tactics were given greater emphasis as gunpowder weapons increased in reliability, accuracy, and rate of fire. Cavalry adapted by dismounting, and using skirmisher tactics with breechloading rifles (which could be reloaded from a prone position, reducing vulnerability to enemy fire).
After the American Civil War magazine-fed rifles, rapid fire machine guns and high explosive shells for the artillery, spelled the end of the dense infantry formation. This meant that infantry units could no longer engage in either long or short range open field battle and that different tactics to prevent the needless wastage of men. Military leaders and arms manufacturers thus began grasping for a new type of weapon for this new era.
1900s-1930s: Pre-Sturmgewehr Light Automatic Rifles
These automatic firearms tended to use used pre-existing rifle cartridges, kinetic energy ranged between 3,000-5,000 J (2,200-3,700 foot-pounds), velocities of 750-900 m/s (2,460-2,950 ft/s) and bullets of 9 to 13 g (139-200 grains).
The first assault rifle was the Italian-made Cei-Rigotti, which was developed in the 1890s and finished around 1900. While tested in Italy and the United Kingdom, it never entered military service, however. The first service assault rifle was the Russian Fedorov Avtomat issued for the first time in 1915, chambered for the Japanese Arisaka 6.5 x 50 mm rifle cartridge, which was only used in small numbers.
During World War I the French Chauchat was introduced, an automatic rifle that was produced in large numbers (250,000). Like the later assault rifle it was capable of both single and automatic fire, and was loaded with a magazine and also featured a pistol grip. Compared to other light machine guns of the time the Chauchat was fairly light at the weight of 9 kg but it was still too cumbersome for closer quarters and had recoil that was too heavy to control when firing fully automatic due to the powerful 30-06 cartridge.
Despite some serious flaws it was so important to infantry combat that desperate German troops who had no comparable weapon of their own started using captured Chauchats. While it was chambered for 30-06 and therefore did not use an intermediate cartridge, it was an intermediate weapon between submachine guns and heavier machine guns such as the Lewis Gun.
The American M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) copied the Chauchat concept in a more reliable design but was not introduced or used in any significant numbers before the war ended. Later developments added heavier barrels and bipods that made it more like today's light machine gun or squad automatic weapon, though it did help establish the doctrine of use for light selective fire rifles. These versions of the BAR were produced in large numbers, widely adopted, and served into the 1960s with the U.S. military and other nations.
Also during World War I, submachine guns such as the Villar Perosa, the Beretta Model 1918 and the MP18e introduced. These weapons fired modified pistol cartridges. The 9 mm Bergman was based on the 9 mm Para, with reduced charge to reduce recoil in the MP18. The developers of the Thompson submachine gun originally intended to use rifle-powered rounds. However, a mechanical system that could handle their power was not found and the .45 ACP cartridge was chosen instead.
1930s: Automatic Intermediate Weapons
Continuing evolution of the intermediate-caliber automatic rifle was primarily driven by ammunition. Handgun ammunition used by submachine guns limited in effective range. Conversely, full-sized military rifle calibers were uncomfortable to fire repeatedly and difficult to control during fully automatic or rapid fire because of significant recoil. Cost of design and manufacture was also higher. One attempt to combine an intermediate cartridge with an automatic rifle by the Italian arms company Beretta resulted in the MAB 38 (Moschetto Automatico Beretta 1938). The MAB 38 used a Fiocchi 9M38 cartridge and a higher-powered 9 mm Parabellum cartridge, which could provide longer range fire. The effective range was about 200 m.
The Carbine
In 1942, the United States introduced the M1 Carbine, which was an intermediate power weapon chambered for the .30 Carbine cartridge. Select-fire capability was introduced later in the war. The weapon had greater range and accuracy than submachine guns, but not as much as the M1. However, its longer 18" barrel gave it a higher muzzle velocity than pistols and submachine guns chambered for the same .30 round.
Originally the Carbine was envisioned as an inexpensive lightweight weapon. The M1 Carbine series was soon found suitable for close quarter battle engagements, a concept that would be re-applied later. In particularly, it was furnished to US Airborne divisions, because of the expectation that Airborne units would have to fight without being re-supplied. It was the most popular US gun. Millions were made and ther MI Carbine would remain in service until it was supplemented replaced by the M16 rifle in the 1960s.
German And Russian Assault Rifles
The 1930s was also the beginning of the important German Maschinenkarabiner program of arms development that resulted in the prototype Maschinenkarabiner M35 that was however not adopted for service.[2]
Examples or these guns are: Maschinenkarabiner, Sturmgewehr & the AK-47
Assault rifle development began in earnest with the Maschinenkarabiner project
Some of these automatic firearms used pre-existing rounds; others used new intermediate cartridges. Kinetic energy ranged between 1,400-2,100 J (1,033-1,550 foot-pounds), muzzle velocities of 600-800m/s (1,970-2,625 ft/s) and bullets of 7-9g (108-139 grains).
Germany, under the Versailles Treaty was limited to a professional army of long service soldiers numbering only 100,000 men and forbade tanks or military aircraft. This encouraged emphasis on high quality, and reduced emphasis on low cost. Infantry tactics was based on teams of General Purpose Machinegun groups (GPMG) supported by infantry. GPMG had high rates of fire to permit small numbers of men to fire at long range to defend a wide front. Enemy soldiers, briefly exposed, would be engaged with a high rate burst of fire to cause casualties before they could take cover. Close range assaults would be conducted by units with submachineguns for greater mobility, and higher rates of fire. This tactic was a refinement of the "Hutier" tactics used by Germany in the last year of WWI.
In 1942, Walther unveiled the Maschinenkarabiner ("automatic carbine", abbr. MKb 42). In the same year, Haenel presented the MKb42(H), designed by Hugo Schmeisser. Rheinmetall-Borsig offered its FG 42 (Fallschirmjäger Gewehr 42, sponsored by Hermann Göring. War-time tests in Russia indicated the Schmeisser developed it first as the MP44/Sturmgewehr 44 and it immediately entered large scale production.
At the end of the war in 1947, Mikhail Kalashnikov developed the AK-47, which was quite different mechanically. It fired the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge, which had been developed during WWII for use in their SKS carbines which were used at war's end. Schmeisser moved to Spain and developed the CETME Assault Rifle, which was licensed for use in West Germany to Heckler and Koch HK.
Late 1950s-1960s - Lighter Rifles & Smaller Bullets
The wars after WWII showed that a large bullet was not necessary to put a soldier out of action. The M16 had its trial by fire in Vietnam in the early 60s; by 1967 the M16A1 became the Army's standard service rifle
Statistical studies of WWII battles performed by the U.S. Army revealed that infantry combat beyond 300 meters (325 yards) was rare. The Russians saw no reason to make a rifle that shot beyond a rifleman's ability to aim, and therefore considered a lighter, less-powerful cartridge to be more effective. This permitted a lighter rifle and allowed a greater amount of the lighter ammunition to be transported in the same amount of space. Moreover, the smaller cartridges lessened recoil, which allowed riflemen to sustain a higher accurate rate of fire and facilitate marksmanship training.
In addition, the smaller size and handiness of an assault rifle would benefit tank crews, support troops, and units with missions other than front line combat. The smaller-caliber military cartridges achieved higher velocities, more favorable ballistic properties, and reduced carrying weight.
One aspect of the smaller caliber ammunition that is sometimes hotly debated is its fragmentation behavior. Stopping capability is the effectiveness of the round in completely stopping the target when it hits - either killing or fully incapacitating. Within a certain range of ballistic conditions, the lighter 5.56 mm and 5.45 mm will, upon striking tissue, first tumble and then fragment. Beyond 100 yards, or when fired from shorter barrels, such bullets can often fail to fragment upon impact because of insufficient velocity.
Ultimately, any pointed round will tumble in soft tissue inflicting significant blood loss and internal damage, as well as a wound channel profile that is more complex to address medically.
If the bullet acts as a solid, and doesn't fragment, full effectiveness occurs only if striking the heart, brain or spinal cord, causing immediate loss of control. There is a distinct, though lesser effectiveness if large blood vessels, or liver (which last tends to tear) is hit causing loss of blood pressure, and consequent unconsciousness.
Part of the dispute over small-caliber rounds arises here. Blood loss leads to indirect incapacitation, but often takes longer than direct destruction of tissue. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara presented wounding ability as a reason for adoption of the M16 over the M14. The theory that wounding one soldier will take him out of action was wed to the findings of Project SALVO. SALVO concluded that the main factor in inflicting casualties in infantry combat was rounds fired - aiming had negligible impact. In 1982 changes were made in the M16A2, which used a heavier 62 grain bullet with different ballistic characteristics than its M16A1 predecessor. The debate about the effectiveness of the 5.56/5.45 mm bullet versus the 7.62 mm continues.
1970s-1990s - New Forms and Features
Many of the automatic firearms used the same rounds as in older eras, but focused on using new form factors, materials, and added features like standard telescopic and reflex sights. In the 1980s and 1990s came designs that utilized new form factors, sights, electronics, and materials. A number of bullpup rifles entered service. These make use of composites and plastics, the FAMAS and Steyr AUG both have ambidextrous controls, and the Steyr AUG, and SA80 both added a low-power telescopic sight to the standard version. The QBZ-95, SAR-21 and the Tavor TAR-21 follow a similar trend..
The Heckler & Koch G36, adopted in the late 1990s by Spain and Germany, has a traditional configuration with an integral telescopic and red dot sights and composite exterior. Through the 1990s the use of modular accessories increased. Flashlights, visible lasers, infrared lights and lasers, ergonomic accessories such as vertical foregrips and folding or collapsible buttstocks, and a plethora of other options appeared.
Modularity
Intertwined with the growth of the modular accessories was the concept of rifles being modular themselves. The G36, for example, can be converted to a compact carbine, a standard rifle, or a squad support weapon (light machine gun) and back again simply by swapping modular parts in a matter of moments. Interchangeable or quick-detachable barrel assemblies of different lengths are emerging for some weapons, with ingenious retrofit kits to provide similar capabilities on older types. The AR15 in particular has an entire industry that has grown to make variations of every component.
The trend in the new designs, and very likely future ones, is towards more integrated features and lighter weight with new materials and configurations. Introduction of a new ammunition would require retooling factories, phasing out conventional ammunition, and making general infrastructure changes that are considered by many military planners to be too expensive to undertake. In an effort to avoid the problems of a completely new cartridge, the 77-grain Mk262 Mod0 bullet has started to gain acceptance.
A promising development of the German Heckler & Koch G11 rifle 4.73 mm caseless ammunition and advanced assault rifle in the 1970-1980s was effectively halted by German reunification and heat-dissipation issues with the caseless ammunition in 1990, and the rifle never entered full production.
21st Century - Shorter Barrels, Bigger Bullets, More Energy
(below`is too long)
Afghanistan, with its arid open country is very different from the close quarters fighting in Europe or the Far East. The open terrain has sparked a return to bigger, more powerful, more accurate 7.62 mm weapons. Infantrymen are beginning to use modernized M14s, M21s, and M24 SWS. With a longer effective range, the 7.62x51 mm is proving useful at fighting at long distance.
The US has developed some notability as possible replacements for the venerable 5.56. Remington has developed the 6.8 mm Remington SPC cartridge, which has the same overall length but fires the larger .270 caliber bullets. Likewise, Alexander Arms at Radford Arsenal developed the 6.5 Grendel cartridge, which combines long range accuracy comparable to the 7.62 mm NATO with close range stopping power similar to the 6.8 SPC. Both bullets have the same overall length as the 5.56; conversion of existing AR-15, M4 and M16 rifles requires only replacement of uppers and magazines. Other cartridges have been developed for the AR-15 platform such as the .50 Beowulf and the .458 Socom - but these are much heavier and relegated to a specialty role like sniping.
In addition to these new designs, the future may well be the redesign of the past. Recently, weapons manufacturing giants Heckler and Koch redesigned the M4 assault rifle. The new weapon, the HK416 has a piston action, not gas, the bolt is sealed from the action, reducing dirt, heat and chance of failure, 1913 Picatinny rails, drop free magazine release and other useful additions.
The Future
Possible future directions are armor piercing or exploding tip bullets or saboted sub-caliber tungsten darts, more powerful cartridges, carbon fiber barrels and exotic metals such as titanium and scandium.
