The AMR: Anti-Material Weapon
The ACR Is the ultimate anti material if you can find 15.2mm ammo. The goal of the AMR is to produce the power of the 50 cal BMG and then increase it and shoot from further distances. Think of it as as a cross between a 20mm and a 50 cal. But this tungsten dart can pierce the anything other than a MBT.
Development
In order to fill a perceived gap in the number of support weapon types available
to the infantry, Steyr-Mannlicher began the development of what they termed an
Anti-Matériel Rifle (AMR) during the mid-1980s. At that time they envisaged a
two-man single shot rifle capable of accurate fire up to 1,000 m, the intended
targets being armored personnel carriers, soft-skin vehicles, electronics
equipment and helicopters. The ammunition was to be APDS or APFSDS with early
development concentrating on APDS.
Early trials with ammunition based on 12.7 mm cartridges demonstrated that an
APFSDS approach would be more beneficial, resulting in the construction of a
small number of 14.5 mm AMR 5075 semi-automatic rifles with smooth-bore barrels.
Trials with these weapons resulted in a change of caliber to 15.2 mm and a
change of 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 matériel such as light armored
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 45º 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 ±10 m/s; the 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 (±10 m/s)
Max chamber pressure: 4,800 bar
Manufacturer
Steyr-Mannlicher AG & Co KG
Status
Advanced development.
