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APS at a Glance
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Caliber: 5.66x150mm
Length: 823mm
Weight: 2.7kg
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The APS was developed during the cold war as a special purpose weapon for Russian Spetsnaz divers. It was developed because Spetsnaz divers equipped with traditional assault rifles are basically defenseless underwater since traditional bullets loose their effectiveness quickly underwater. Likewise weapons designed for underwater use do not have a very effective range on land either. So an assault rifle capable of both effective underwater, and land fire was developed.
The APS was designed at the TsNIITochmash Research Institute.The rifle itself basically resembles a Kalashnikov, but with a larger magazine. It does use the same rotating bolt system as a Kalashnikov, and is equipped to fire in both semi-automatic, and fully automatic modes. It is outfitted with a collapsible stock, and has a twenty-six round magazine.
The APS fires a special 5.66x150mm MPS cartridge which weighs 26 grams. The projectile itself is a 120mm drag stabilized dart that travels at 365 meters a second in the air, and 250 meters a second underwater at a five meter depth. It has an effective range of 100 meters on land, and the effective range underwater depends on the depth of the diver since water becomes denser the farther down one goes.
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