According to RIA Novosti news agency, TsKIB SOO arms manufacturing plant officials announced that they are tooling up to start mass production of the ADS amphibious weapon system. They will supply the Russian Ministry of Defence and National Guard units as well as manufacture the rifle for export. The domestic orders are said to be the primary goal of the company. The countries of export are not disclosed.
ADS amphibious rifle. Note the integrated 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher
The reason why this rifle is called amphibious is that it is capable of firing both out of and under water. When submerged, the gun must be loaded with special ammunition. The underwater ammunition uses the 5.45x39mm case and has the same overall length which makes it possible to use the standard AK-74 magazines. However, the bullet of the underwater round is a 53mm (about 2″) long steel made saboted one. The sabot is more like a plastic driving band. The bullet is stabilized underwater due to the supercavitation created by its blunt nose. In the ground roles, the rifle shoots normal 5.45x39mm ammunition. Here is a drawing from the patent of this cartridge.
You can download the bilingual (in Russian and English) patent by clicking here
The combat version of this cartridge is called PSP (ПСП). Its projectile is made of hardened steel and weighs 16 grams (247 grains). Its effective range is 25 meters when submerged to 5-meter depth. The effective range decreases with the increase of submersion depth. At 20 meter depth, the round is usable to up to 18-meter distance. There is also a training/practice version of this round called PSP-U (ПСП-У) which has a bronze 8 gram (123 grain) projectile.
Sources:
“В ТУЛЕ ГОТОВЯТ К СЕРИЙНОМУ ПРОИЗВОДСТВУ АВТОМАТ-“АМФИБИЮ””. (2018, March 09). RIA Novosti. Retrieved from: https://ria.ru/arms/20180309/1516032624.html
Measure
Measure