AS Val and VSS Vintorez
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2022) |
| AS Val and VSS Vintorez | |
|---|---|
 VSS (top) equipped with the PSO-1-1 and 10-round magazine. VAL (bottom) with a 20-round magazine | |
| Type | Assault rifle (AS Val)[1] Sniper rifle (VSS Vintorez)[2] |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1987–present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | First Chechen War Second Chechen War Iraq War[3] Russo-Georgian War Russo-Ukrainian War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | TsNIITochMash Pyotr Serdyukov and Vladimir Krasnikov |
| Designed | 1980s |
| Manufacturer | Tula Arms Plant |
| Produced | 1987–present |
| Variants | ASM and VSSM |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 2.5 kg (5.51 lb) AS (empty) 3.54 kg (7.80 lb) AS with PSO-1-1 4.95 kg (10.91 lb) AS with 1PN51 2.6 kg (5.73 lb) VSS (empty) |
| Length | 875 mm (34.4 in) AS (stock extended) 615 mm (24.2 in) AS (stock folded) 894 mm (35.2 in) VSS |
| Barrel length | 200 mm (7.9 in) |
| Cartridge | 9×39mm |
| Action | Gas-operated, closed rotating bolt |
| Rate of fire | ∼900 rounds/min [4] |
| Muzzle velocity | 280–295 m/s |
| Feed system | 10-, 20-, 30-round detachable box magazine (shared with the SR-3M) |
| Sights | Open sights: Rear notch on tangent (graduated from 100 to 425 m) and front post mounted to suppressor housing "Dovetail mount" for optics |
The AS Val "Shaft" (Russian: АС «Вал»; Автома́т Специа́льный, romanized: Avtomát Spetsiálny "Val", lit. 'Special Automatic')[5] and VSS Vintorez "Thread Cutter" (Russian: ВСС «Винторе́з» Винто́вка Сна́йперская Специа́льная, romanized: Vintóvka Snáyperskaya Spetsiálnaya "Vintorez", lit. 'Special "Sniper" Rifle'),[6] 6P30 and 6P29 (GRAU designation) respectively, were a Soviet-designed assault rifle featuring an integral suppressor based on the prototype RG-036 completed in 1981 by TsNIITochMash.[7] The two rifles hereafter are referred to as the Vintorez and Val. The Vintorez (beginning in 1983) and Val (beginning in 1985) were developed by TsNIITochMash to replace modified general-purpose firearms, such as the AKS-74UB, BS-1, APB, and PB, for clandestine operations, much like the PSS Vul. Manufacturing began at the Tula Arms Plant after its adoption by the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in 1987.
The ASM (6P30M) and VSSM (6P29M) are modernized variants of the AS and VSS respectively The VSSM is equipped with an aluminium buttstock with an adjustable cheek and butt pad and a new 30-round magazine was introduced to be intended for use with the ASM. Both rifles are also outfitted with a Picatinny rail on the top of the dust cover and on the sides and bottom of the suppressor, forward of the handguard. The mounts which shroud the suppressor can be removed. Deliveries began in 2018.[8]
Development
[edit]The AS Val can trace its origins back to the 1960 U-2 incident, where the Soviets captured US Air Force pilot Gary Powers alongside his equipment, including a suppressed pistol, which impressed them enough to issue a requirement for similar Soviet weapon. The captured pistol was examined by the TsNIITochMash at Klimovsk by a team of designers that included G. Petropavlov, Yu Krulov, V. Sabelinikov, A. Neougodev, A. Deryagin, A. Khinikadze, I. Kas'yanov, P. Serdyukov, V. Petrov, and V. Levchenko. They pioneered the development of suppressed weapons and specialized ammunition in Russia.[9]
With increasing tensions between the West and the Soviet Union during the late 1970s and 1980s, and both the United States and the USSR locked in a war between proxies, the KGB and GRU ordered the development of small arms suitable for covert operations around the world and in 1981, weapon designers P. I. Serdyukov and V. F. Krasnikov of TsNIITochMash began working on a combination of a new suppressed rifle and subsonic cartridge.[10]
Development of the VSS Vintorez was carried out in parallel with the AS Val, to provide a suppressed sniper rifle for Spetsnaz undercover or clandestine units and capable of defeating NATO body armour at ranges up to 400 m (440 yd) with little noise as possible.[11][12]
Design
[edit]
The AS Val uses a modified Kalashnikov action - a gas-operated rotating bolt combined with an integral suppressor and chambered for the 9×39mm SP-6 cartridge firing a heavy 250 grain bullet at subsonic speed.[9] The suppressor makes use of the dual-chamber principle: the propellant gases are vented through specially designed perforations along the barrel into the first chamber, where the hot gases cool down and lose pressure before passing through the second chamber via a series of mesh screens which break the gas stream even further before leaving the barrel.[13][14] The resulting sound signature is significantly lower than an unsuppressed rifle, and even from a short distance it cannot be recognized as the discharge of a rifle.[15] The VSS Vintorez suppressor and operating systems are exactly the same as the AS Val, but optimised to fire the 9×39mm SP-5 subsonic cartridge with a hardened steel or tungsten tip to defeat body armour.[11]
The AS Val uses a 20-round detachable box magazine, while the VSS Vintorez uses a 10-round detachable box magazine, though their magazines are interchangeable.[16] The magazines have a series of horizontal indentations to provide tactile identification and prevent confusion with Kalashnikov-pattern magazines.[15] The indentations also provide rigidity to the magazine walls.[17] The magazines are also interchangeable with the SR-3 Vikhr.[18]
The VSS Vintorez can be broken down for transport in a special aluminum briefcase for clandestine operations. A PSO-1-1 (1P43) telescopic sight, a NPSU-3 night sight with a 3.46X magnification, and two magazines are included in the briefcase.[11][12] The AS Val can mount the PSO-1 telescopic sight of the SVD rifle, or the 1PN52-1 night sight. Iron sights are also provided to both rifles.[16][19]
Both guns are selective fire designs. While the Vintorez is normally used in single-fire mode wih 10-round magazines, it is capable of firing short bursts of automatic fire and use the 20-round magazine from the Val in cases of emergency.[16] The full auto fire option of the Vintorez can also be used for ambushes or attacks against soft-skinned vehicles such as trucks.[19]
Operational history
[edit]Both the AS Val and VSS Vintorez were issued to Soviet troops since the late 1980s. They were used during the First Chechen War in 1994 and the Second Chechen War in 1999, though they remained relatively osbcure amongst Western intelligence agencies and similar organizations until the Russians deployed troops to South Ossetia during the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.[20] They were also seen in use by Russian Spetsnaz during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[21][22]
The VSS Vintorez was used in small numbers by Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq from 2003−2005.[3] By 2014, it was no longer in use by any security forces in Ukraine.[23] According to Militarnyi, the VSS was retired from service due the lack of ammo.[24]
Users
[edit]
Current
[edit]
Armenia: A small number of weapons were received from Russia among other arms before 2014.[25]
Belarus: Used by various special forces[26]
Cuba: Used by the Mobile Brigade of Special Troops[27]
Georgia: Used by army and police special forces,[28] some configured with Aimpoint and Kobra red dot sights[29]
India: Used by MARCOS[30]
Russia: Used by Special forces,[31] Federal Security Service (FSB)[32] and OMON[33][34][35][36][37]
Former
[edit]
Gallery
[edit]-
An ASM with a 30-round magazine -
The instruction sheet of the AS Val which includes a field stripped model of the rifle -
PSO-1M2-1 scope mounted on a VSS Vintorez
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "9 mm special assault rifle AS | Catalog Rosoboronexport". roe.ru. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ "9 mm special sniper rifle VSS | Catalog Rosoboronexport". roe.ru. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Besedovskyy, Vlad (2 May 2023). "VSS Vintorez used by Ukrainian special forces in Iraq". Safar Publishing. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "The Elusive Vintorez 9×39 Sniper Rifle – Small Arms Defense Journal". Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "9 mm special assault rifle AS | Catalog Rosoboronexport". roe.ru. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ "9 mm special sniper rifle VSS | Catalog Rosoboronexport". roe.ru. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ AS Val, VSS Vintorez, OTs-14 Groza, and more: 9x39mm with Max Popenker, retrieved 7 May 2023
- ^ "Modernized ASM and VSSM". YouTube. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ a b Jones & Ness 2010, p. 188.
- ^ Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1412.
- ^ a b c Jones & Ness 2010, p. 252.
- ^ a b Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1414.
- ^ Jones & Ness 2010, pp. 188−189.
- ^ Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1419.
- ^ a b Jones & Ness 2010, p. 189.
- ^ a b c Jones & Ness 2010, pp. 189, 252.
- ^ Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1418.
- ^ Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1426.
- ^ a b Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1415.
- ^ Johnston & Nelson 2016, p. 1424.
- ^ Ferguson & Jenzen-Jones 2014, p. 26.
- ^ Galeotti 2019, p. 39.
- ^ Ferguson & Jenzen-Jones 2014, p. 32.
- ^ "Criminals with Vintorez and Val rifles were detained in Chernihiv region". Militarnyi. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
- ^ "Как обеспечивается баланс сил в Закавказье". vestikavkaza.ru (in Russian). 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Ствол, с которым идут в разведку | Еженедельник "Военно-промышленный курьер"". vpk-news.ru. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Tropas Especiales "Avispas Negras"". cuba-militaria.org (in English, Spanish, and German). 8 April 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Спецподразделения Грузии". АЛАНИЯинформ (in Russian). Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Armament of the Georgian Army". geo-army.ge. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012.
- ^ P, Rajat (19 July 2019). "Elite special forces of Army, IAF, Navy get major weapons upgrade | India News – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / В ВВО поступила партия модернизированных снайперских винтовок "Винторез"". armstrade.org. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ a b "— " "". bratishka.ru. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007.
- ^ Neville 2016, p. 229.
- ^ ИЗДЕЛИЕ 1ПН51 ТЕХНИЧЕСКОЕ ОПИСАНИЕ И ИНСТРУКЦИЯ ПО ЭКСПЛУАТАЦИИ [Product 1PN51 technical description and operating instructions] (zip) (in Russian). January 1992. p. 11. АЛ3.812.076 ТО-ЛУ.
- ^ "ЦАМТО / Новости / Разведчики ВВО в Приамурье получили партию специальных автоматов АСМ 'Вал' последней модификации". armstrade.org. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Разведчиков ЦВО в Самарской области впервые вооружили модернизированным бесшумным оружием".
- ^ "ЦАМТО / / Около тысячи автоматов АК-12 получил спецназ ЦВО в Новосибирской области в 2021 году".
- ^ Neville, Leigh (25 August 2016). Modern Snipers. General Military. Osprey Publishing. p. 190. ISBN 9781472815347.
Bibliography
[edit]- Ferguson, Jonathan; Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (2014). Raising Red Flags: An Examination of Arms & Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine, 2014 (PDF) (Report). Armament Research Services Pty. Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9924624-3-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- Galeotti, Mark (2019). Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-3345-7.
- Johnston, Gary Paul; Nelson, Thomas B. (2016). The World's Assault Rifles. Ironside International Publishers Inc. ISBN 978-1-61984-601-2.
- Jones, Richard D; Ness, Leland S, eds. (2010). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2010–2011. Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2908-1.