July 5, 2020 Topic:
Underwater Rifles Are A Real Thing (And So Are Supercavitating Bullets)
Supercavitating ammo is a game changer.
by Charlie Gao
Here's What You Need To Remember: In addition to use by frogmen, MEA in 12.7mm caliber could prove lethal on UUVs equipped with 12.7 machine guns. The significant penetrative power of the 12.7 MEA ammo means UUVs could possibly damage hull sonars, or even helicopters hovering above the surface by shooting them with supercavitating ammo. The oft-quoted figure is that with MEA ammunition, a UUV five meters under the surface can hit a target one km in the air.
Until recently, underwater firearms have been niche designs that were limited to the underwater role. Due to the effects of water on conventional firearms, most conventional firearms either cannot be fired safely, do not function properly or have a laughably small effective range when fired underwater. Early designs for underwater firearms were incredibly cumbersome, using massive magazines loaded with steel darts. Said rifles were limited to underwater use, as they had an effective range of fewer than fifty meters on land. This meant divers were often forced to carry two rifles if they wanted to be effective on land and in water. However, one Norwegian company has developed one kind of ammo that can do both: supercavitating ammo.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/underwater-rifles-are-real-thing-and-so-are-supercavitating-bullets-163900
