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program name to Infantry Weapon System 2000 (IWS 2000). Development work is still in being with a view to perfecting the ammunition and increasing the muzzle velocity to 1,500 m/s. The most recent development work on the weapon concentrated on reducing the overall weight and dimensions with a view to producing a prototype of a five-shot semi-automatic rifle. Other possible future options could include a low-rate automatic fire version and the use of a rifled barrel so as to explore other ammunition design possibilities. Description The 15.2 mm IWS 2000 is a heavyweight precision rifle designed as a relatively inexpensive system for the long-range attack of mat? such as light armored riel vehicles, aircraft on the ground, fuel and supply dumps, radar installations and similar targets. It can be dismantled into two units for pack carriage. The rifle is a semi-automatic bullpup, using plastics and light metal to reduce the weight as far as is consistent with the strength demanded by its role. The mechanism employs the long recoil principle of operation, the barrel and bolt recoiling for about 200 mm, after which the bolt is unlocked and held while the barrel is returned to battery. The bolt is then released, collects a cartridge from the magazine and chambers it, locking into the barrel by a rotary motion. Recoil of the barrel is reduced by a cylindrical multi-port muzzle brake of considerable efficiency and is controlled by a hydro pneumatic annular system carried in a ring cradle forming the front portion of the tubular receiver. The weapon is supported by a bipod, attached above the recoil cradle and by an adjustable firing pedestal beneath the butt. A x10 optical sight is fitted as standard. The five-round box magazine is inserted from the right side, at an angle of about 45? below the horizontal. The complete 15.2 mm APFSDS round weighs 150 g and is 207 mm long. The cartridge case (maximum diameter at the base is 26 mm) is of part-synthetic construction, conventional bottle-necked in form and carries a 20 g fin-stabilised tungsten dart projectile which has a muzzle velocity of 1,450 m/s ? m/s; the 10 complete projectile assembly with its four sabot segments weighs 35 g. The projectile has a practical range of 1,000 m and a probable range of 1,500/2,000 m depending upon the type of target. At 1,000 m range the current projectile has been demonstrated to pierce 40 mm of RHA plate and the secondary fragmentation behind the plate is considerable. The high velocity bestows an exceptionally flat trajectory; the vertex at 1,000 m range is no more than 800 mm above the line of sight. Specifications Provisional Cartridge: 15.2 mm Special APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) Operation: long recoil, semi-automatic Locking: rotating bolt Feed: 5-round box magazine Weight: ca 18 kg Length: 1.8 m Barrel: 1.2 m Rifling: smoothbore Sight: x10 telescope
Muzzle velocity: 1,450 m/s (? m/s) 10 Max chamber pressure: 4,800 bar Manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher AG & Co KG Postfach 1000, A-4400 Steyr. Status Advanced development.