VHS, a rifle that looks like FAMAS
VHS (Croatian: Vi?enamjenska Hrvatska Strojnica, English: Multifunctional Croatian machine gun, meaning: Croatian-made multi-purpose machine gun) It is a series of bullpup assault rifles developed and produced by Croatian firearms manufacturer HS Produkt. It fires 5.56×45mm NATO standard rifle bullets.
The VHS assault rifle was first exhibited at the 2007 iKA exhibition, and is displayed in the city of Karlovac every year in Croatia. The reason for development is that a tender for the Croatian army requires new individual rifle equipment designed in accordance with NATO standards, and it is expected that various AK derivatives equipped by the Croatian army will be included in 2012. (Including Zastava M70, APS-95) All replaced.
In April 2013, HS Produkt launched a new and improved version named VHS-2.
Historical Development
The Croatian War in the early 1990s enabled Croatia to successfully separate from the former Yugoslav Federation and become independent. During the war, the Croatian army mainly used weapons that were various AK derivatives from the former Yugoslav Federation period (including Zastava M70, APS-95); some militia or special forces units also used FN FAL or SAR 80 Participate in the silver game.
In 1992, during the Croatian War, the privately owned Croatian industrial parts company I.M. Metalworks (now called HS Produkt) was founded by Marko Vukovi? (Croatian: Marko Vukovi?). ) is developing a new bullpup assault rifle. They first produced a bullpup variant of the 7.62mm Kalashnikov assault rifle. However, this rifle has many design flaws. One of the reasons is due to the limited R&D and production technology capabilities of the I.M. Metal Factory, and the other reason is that during the Croatian War, most manufacturing industries were affected and the quality was early The biggest problem in the product. But despite this, it still provided the company with valuable learning experience and laid the foundation for the subsequent development of new rifles. Further prototypes were shown in 1996, 1999 and 2004.
In the mid-1990s, a delayed recoil model was tested, but the results were still unsatisfactory, and it was replaced by a design similar to the M16 rifle.
After a development cycle, information about the current version of the VHS assault rifle finally began to be revealed around 2003. In 2005, HS Produkt announced a new prototype gun that looked very similar to the Israeli IMI Tavor TAR-21 and submitted it to former Croatian Defense Minister Belizelav Londrovok for testing. However, the difference between subsequent production models and the 2004 prototype gun is more than 90%.
Adopted
On November 19, 2007, the Croatian Ministry of Defense ordered a batch of ***50 rifles to be used by the Croatian contingent of the International Security Assistance Force currently deployed in Afghanistan. Conduct actual combat testing. Large-scale production will begin by the end of 2008, with field testing expected to be completed. Other countries, including Kuwait and Venezuela, have expressed interest in purchasing a batch of VHS assault rifles because of one of HS Produkt's popular pistols, the HS2000 (sold in the United States as the Splinter Linfield XD semi-automatic). Pistols sold under the name) are very popular.
On November 24, 2008, HS Produkt introduced the final version of the VHS assault rifle at that time. The first batch of 40 rifles has left the factory and is used for testing. After the initial testing phase, an additional 1,000 rifles were produced. And it was tested by Croatian soldiers in the first three months of 2009. After confirming its excellent performance, the Croatian army ordered another 2,000 rifles to be put into service.
By 2012, the VHS rifle became the new official standard rifle of the Croatian army; in 2013, the Croatian army had 3,600 VHS rifles in service; at the end of 2014, the last batch of 2,000 rifles were also delivered to the Croatian army, replacing various types of rifles that had been in service for many years. Derivatives of the AK and AKM.
According to the regulations of the Croatian army, they require 17,000 new assault rifles, but with the launch of the VHS-2 rifle, it is very likely that the Croatian army will transfer all orders to this rifle superior. A long-standing provision of the Croatian Army requires 50,000 assault rifles, which would ensure long-term production of VHS-2 rifles even if there have been no export orders, but the U.S. Department of Defense has offered to order 500 VHS rifles, and future order quantities are possible will improve.
On May 12, 2009, Branko Vukelic, then Croatian Defense Minister, confirmed that the VHS assault rifle had successfully completed all destructive tests. On May 15, the Croatian Ministry of Defense officially ordered the first batch of 1,000 VHS assault rifles (including two derivatives) from HS Produkt at an average price of 10,700 Croatian Kunas (approximately ?1,450) per unit.
Design details
Although early information on the VHS rifle is still somewhat sketchy, in 2005 it was shown that at least two prototypes were produced: one of which was superficially similar to the French standard Rifle FAMAS, and another family of guns similar to the Tavor TAR-21 made by Israel IMI, the charging handle is set on the left front of the gun body, and there is also a handle guard ring and under the front grip that can be stored in it. Small bipod. However, the latest VHS-related photos released in December 2008 show that a prototype similar to the FAMAS design has been successfully passed.
VHS and South Africa’s CR-21, France’s FAMAS, Belgium’s FN F2000 and FN P90, Israel’s IMI Tavor TAR-21, Iran’s KH2002, Russia’s OTs-14, and China’s QBZ -95 adopts the same bullpup design as QBB-95, British SA80, Singaporean SAR 21, Austrian Steyr AUG and Steyr ACR. Its bullpup firearm design was first used in the EM-1 and EM-2 assault rifles developed by the United Kingdom in 1940. The design of bullpup firearms places the main components such as the bolt behind the pistol grip, thereby shortening the overall length without shortening the barrel length. VHS has the length of a carbine and the muzzle kinetic energy of a rifle. The bullpup design also minimizes the silhouette of the soldier and increases the soldier's flexibility in street fighting.
The VHS-D rifle has a total length of 765 mm, with a 500 mm barrel, and is equipped with a bayonet mount, and can fire 22 mm grenades; the VHS-K carbine has a total length of 665 mm, with a 500 mm barrel. A 410 mm barrel was used, and the bayonet mount was cancelled. This rifle also uses a large number of parts made of new polymers, causing various reports to indicate that the overall weight of the rifle is between 2.3 kg and 3 kg (empty gun calculation).
The VHS rifle uses a long-stroke piston pneumatic operating system and a rotating bolt locking mechanism. The speed switch is set inside the trigger guard. When the speed switch lever is set to the left, it is fully automatic mode, when it is set to the right, it is semi-automatic mode, and when it is set to the center, it is safety mode.
Just like the bullpup design of the VHS rifle, the magazine socket is just behind the pistol grip. Its style is rectangular, and the magazine buckle/release button is set at the rear. The charging handle of the VHS is stored under the handle. It is designed to be rotated left and right like the HK G36 to pull the bolt from the left and right directions. There are connected ejection baffles on the periphery of the ejection port, which are respectively located in the upper, lower and rear directions to prevent the ejection direction from being unstable. The cheek rest is a through-type design from the bottom of the butt to the back of the handle.
The earlier project won the Innovation Award iKA for a creative and interesting special feature, a specially designed direct gas operating system.
Use another main air hole next to the main air hole to obtain part of the high-pressure gas generated by shooting, and push the space behind the bolt. The bolt itself will produce an "inflatable buffering effect". The high-pressure gas is used to slow down the recoil speed of the bolt until the bolt finally stops due to the gas buffering effect, preventing collision between the bolt and the tail of the receiver or the mechanical buffer device, greatly reducing the recoil force and making it easier to control the firearm. You can even control the gun with one hand and two points (hand and shoulder) to shoot. However, the VHS rifles in the production stage are operated by an old but structurally stronger long-stroke piston pneumatic system, and will no longer be equipped with this direct gas system.
Moreover, the system has not been tested in any way to determine whether there are any problems with the design of the system (if the quality of the bullets is poor, it may easily cause serious damage to the gas tube and the bolt. Carbon deposits, causing the same malfunction as the M16 rifle). But according to the project deposited at the European Patent Office, it seems that this is due to a misunderstanding of the relevant data, that is, two different features are combined: one part is similar to Pecheneg's forced air cooling system, and the other is similar to Pecheneg's forced air cooling system. Part of it is similar to the concept of the Ultimax 100's mechanical buffer system, which was a weapon once used by Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence. But in fact, its mechanical buffer system is only conceptually similar and not exactly the same as the latter, although the Ultimax 100 is still in stock in the Croatian armory.
Some countries with patent systems may also have some "Vehesica"-style works that neither look like direct air conduction nor short-stroke piston and long-stroke piston transmission, but they look a lot like FN SCAR's "Tappet-style" gas locking system (in fact, the FN SCAR's gas locking system is also similar to the early M1 carbine). There, it was also another precedent for design work with some of the stated features, but it was dismissed after the first real test, so it's also possible that the "inflatable cushioning" was a feature that replaced that previous model.
During the self-development process, the type of operating system used by VHS has also undergone many changes, making it prone to confusion. The first used a Kalashnikov-style long-stroke piston pneumatic, but this was changed to a FAMAS lever-delayed recoil system in 1999. The next year, it was modified into a direct gas buffer system with a forced air cooling system, which formed an air cushion effect in the space behind the bolt. Since this form of VHS was patented in 2000, it gives the impression of an inflatable cushioning function. This model was known to be public until 2005. Until 2004, the operating system of the last and current VHS was changed to a short-stroke piston pneumatic system.
Considering that the patent is from 2007, it is not certain how many mass-produced rifles the design will be different from, but HS Produkt also developed and now produces the best-selling HS2000 Pistol, a pistol with great adaptability and innovative modes combined with existing features.
Like various currently popular machine guns, rifles and submachine guns, the VHS rifle can also use the left and right sides and bottom of the handguard and the left and right sides and top of the handle to prepare for the installation of tactical rails. Drill holes to allow the user to install MIL-STD-1913 tactical rail pieces (the top is a tactical rail seat) with two mounting screws to install tactical lights, laser sights, vertical foregrips, and feet corresponding to the rails Mount, 40mm grenade launcher (such as M203, also has its own dedicated VHS-BG), day/night optical sight, red dot scope/reflex sight, holographic sight, night vision or thermal imager, etc. Tactical accessories. The general carrying handle can also be converted into a full-size tactical rail-type carrying handle for serial installation of optical sights. The front and rear serial mounting configuration can expand the installation application mode of sight accessories.
In addition, the actual combat experience gained by the Croatian army in the Croatian War of Independence also affected the plan to develop the rifle: the VHS assault rifle may be the only standard model that is suitable for both grenade launchers and rifle grenades. Modern assault rifle with integrated sights.
In the service life test of the VHS, no major component breakage occurred after 50,000 rounds were fired. The muzzle has a birdcage flash hider and can be used to fire rifle grenades.
Like the FAMAS, it has a sliding grenade guide rod and a side-mounted grenade sighting scale that rotates from inside to side to 45 or 75 degrees for aiming when firing rifle grenades at a high angle, but this scale is mounted on the VHS Bottom of the handle rather than underneath it. The rifle and carbine have different gas regulators, both with three settings and adjustment that can be rotated 120 degrees after pressing: normal, high (larger opening for firing low-pressure ammunition) and closed (with for firing rifle grenades).
One of the shortcomings of VHS is poor ergonomics. The speed switch has three positions for safe, semi-automatic and fully automatic fire, but there is no three-round click option. The production model rifle's speed switch is located inside the trigger guard. Changing launch modes was difficult with VHS because the crank had to rotate a large distance before one of the launch modes was selected. It is also right-handed only; the receiver can only eject casings from the right side, and drops sharply after being ejected toward the rear. There are even instances where an empty cartridge case has a chance of hitting the shooter's arm, depending on the positioning of the shooter's elbow. A final unusual feature is that the non-reciprocating charging handle located at the center base of the carry handle is flexible enough to be stretched from both sides.
In addition, whether it is a design similar to FAMAS or a design similar to TAR-21, the VHS rifle only has an ejection port facing the right and no ejection port facing the left. This makes it difficult for left-handed users to People were forced to use their right hands (there is also the British SA80 with the same design idea). However, on the premise that the soldier's shooting posture is forced to be right-handed operation, and the weight caused by additional parts is eliminated to achieve the goal of lightweighting, this is also a correct design. In fact, the charging handle, magazine release button and sling loop can all be used left or right, while the speed switch is located on the left side of the pistol grip and can be easily operated with the thumb of the right hand.
The model launched in 2008 shows that VHS is compatible with STANAG magazines. But soon after, it was switched to the HK G36 30-round transparent plastic magazine. The reason for switching to HK G36 magazines is that the Croatian army has more HK G36 series rifles (which VHS will replace) in stock than M16 rifles.
First presentation of the rifle
On May 28, 2009, the VHS assault rifle was officially presented for the first time in Karlovac, the city where the HS Produkt factory is located, with the opening day of the establishment of the Croatian Army and the Croatian Army exhibit. Officials who attended the open day said that the person who introduced the new weapon, the VHS rifle, was the developer Marko Vukovich himself. Any general public, Croatian military police and Croatian soldiers present will also have access to information about the rifle and its basic components. The excellent introduction of this VHS rifle during the display and the brief introduction report of the VHS rifle made the people, military police and soldiers present have a good impression of the VHS rifle, which is conducive to the appreciation of the VHS rifle.
In April 2013, at the Adriatic Defense and Aviation Show (ASDA) in Split, Croatia, the improved VHS-2 of VHS was displayed to the public for the first time by HS Produkt. HS Produkt VHS-2 means "2nd Generation VHS Assault Rifle". The new weapon is an improved version of the VHS rifle, retaining its bullpup design, caliber and barrel length, and internal mechanism, but introducing new designs, including a more traditional firing mode selector, redesigned carrying handle, The length-adjustable four-position fixed-position telescopic stock and the smart ejection system can be configured for left or right ejection in less than a minute, making the ergonomics better than the original gun.