Chinese scientists develop ‘recoilless AK-47’ for FPV drones

After more than 1,000 days of war in Ukraine, images of small commercial FPV drones launching grenades or mortar shells They have become common, but these uses could soon be expanded thanks to the progress made by China. According to South China Morning Post, scientists from this country have designed an automatic rifle that can be used by most drones without recoil being a problem. The gun fires bullets 7.62mm like him AK-47 and equalizes its power with a speed of between 740 and 900 meters per second at 10 meters.

The innovation that allows its use with small drones is an almost non-existent setbackrated so light like the pressure exerted on a keyboard when typing. This allows even small consumer drones or commercial robot dogs to operate and fire the weapon with ease, according to the project’s scientists and engineers.

The recoil of an automatic weapon when firing is not an obstacle only for FPV drones. Advanced unmanned platforms and other types of drones also have difficulty handling machine gun recoil, which reduces its precision and flexibility. A new rifle designed by the professor’s team Liu Pengzhanof the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, North China Universityseeks to solve these problems.

The team’s idea was drill a holestrategically located at the rear of the gun barrel, which releases gas shock wave resulting from gunpowder explosion. To maintain the speed of the bullet, they developed a new design with a high-strength seal on the back and an electromagnetic induction chip inside.

When the order to shoot is given, the chip ignites the explosive, launching the bullet. As the pressure increases, the membrane ruptures and the shock wave exits through the holereducing recoil and maintaining a high muzzle velocity.

According to researchers, the weapon has a simple structure and its manufacturing cost is low. Requires only a coil in the barrel to detonate the chipwhich is protected by a ceramic layer resistant to high temperatures and pressures.

According to SCMP, the new weapon design has been developed with the participation of military engineers and proven to be effective in multiple tests. Details of the project were published this month in Acta Armamentariia peer-reviewed academic journal.

During the tests the rifle was suspended in the air and was fired, producing a front-to-back sway of just 1.8cmthus demonstrating minimal recoil.