We did a little historical excursion to find out what law enforcement officers used to arm themselves with different countries. Let's now look at the modern police weapon. Let's start, perhaps, with the shirt that is closer to the body - with our native Russian police (although honestly: for me the word “police” in our realities is associated not with a policeman, but with a policeman). Of course, listing all conceivable models is a disastrous task. We will try to limit ourselves to the most common or popular ones.
The previously mentioned tendency to combine military and police weapons in Russia continues to operate today. All the “trunks” that will be discussed below are used not only by various law enforcement agencies, but also by the military.
Until now, the most popular pistol used by the police remains the 9-mm Makarov pistol. Developed in 1948 and put into service in 1951, it replaced the famous revolver.
In the early 90s, it was modernized (the main changes were a higher muzzle velocity and an increased magazine capacity) and received the designation PMM. The second “M”, as you understand, means “modernized”.
The morally outdated PM began to be replaced by the Yarygin pistol, designed for the use of 9-mm Parabellum cartridges. Created at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, the model turned out to be quite heavy (950 g without cartridges) and bulky, with a high center of gravity, threatening to “block” the weapon. Almost the main disadvantage, many experts consider the lack of a function for safely releasing the cocked hammer.
Of course, it also has advantages: less recoil and bounce when fired compared to the PM, a more capacious magazine (for 18 rounds), high penetration and stopping effect. In addition, a Weaver rail and a tactical flashlight with a laser target designator can be installed on the PY. But in general, the design of the pistol is considered obsolete by the time it was created.
Not just pistols...
The police also have machine guns. The most popular, naturally, is the AK-74U, which uses a 5.45x39 mm cartridge. The thing is certainly formidable, but somewhat outdated. It is not surprising that gunsmiths were asked to develop a new, more modern machine gun for use as a police weapon.
At the Kovrov Mechanical Plant in the late 90s, the AEK-919K “Kashtan” was created, using the widespread PM cartridge.
True, police patrols are not equipped with them; these are special forces weapons, which will require a small-sized machine gun in confined spaces.
Since 2006, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs began to be equipped with 9-mm PP-2000. A very interesting unit with a plastic case and a magazine for 20 or 44 rounds of 9x19 Parabellum cartridges.
Light weight (just over one and a half kg without cartridges), the ability to shoot with thick gloves, as well as an installed Picatinny rail for a bunch of “bells and whistles” (silencer, optical or IR laser laser, tactical flashlight, collimator or optical sight) will allow it to become a worthy replacement for the old one good Kalash.
Izhmash made it even simpler: they developed the PP-19-01 Vityaz submachine gun, which is based on the AK-74U design (the unification of parts is 70%). The main difference is the cartridge.
The Vityaz uses a 9x19 cartridge, both from domestic and foreign companies. Well, a “trifle” in the form of a Picatinny rail is a thing that goes without saying for modern weapons.
When describing Russian police weapons, one cannot fail to mention another well-known development - the PP-91 KEDR. It is CEDAR, and not “Cedar”, as is often mistakenly written. After all, this is an abbreviation for “design by Evgeniy Dragunov.” This submachine gun has a long history. It began to be developed back in the 70s of the last century for the army, but due to its short effective firing range it was not accepted into service. Yes, this is understandable, because the cartridge used here was a pistol 9x18 PM.
KEDR was “reanimated” in the 90s, when the police needed funds to suppress a surge in crime. A silencer and a laser target designator can be installed on it. Currently, it is the second most common submachine gun as a police weapon in Russia in law enforcement agencies.
Already for a long time There is talk about the need to replace the obsolete PM pistol. Development began back in the 80s promising pistol on the topic "Rook". Samples of weapons were created that met the requirements of the military. These were the SPS, GSh-18, PYa pistols and the modernized Makarov PMM pistol.
The PMM pistol used 9x18 mm PMM cartridges with a lightweight conical bullet and an increased powder charge, the SPS pistol used powerful cartridges with a 9x21 mm armor-piercing bullet (the cartridge is made on the basis of the standard 9x18 mm cartridge case), the GSh-18 and PYA cartridges use 9x19 mm Para cartridges, more precisely, their Russian analogues 7N21 and 7N31 with increased bullet penetration. Let's delve into history to understand the tasks assigned to Russian gunsmiths.
First let's go back to the post-war competition for new gun for the army and police of the USSR.
The Nagan revolver was put into service back in Tsarist Russia and by the beginning of the Second World War it was considered an obsolete model. The Nagan used cartridges with a cylindrical bullet recessed into the sleeve with low penetration and stopping effect. The advantages of the revolver were the simplicity and reliability of the design, subsonic bullet speed and the ability to use a silencer, the absence of breakthrough of powder gases between the drum and the barrel due to pushing the drum onto the barrel, fairly high accuracy and accuracy of fire at a distance of up to 50 m. The disadvantages include a weak cartridge and inconvenience of reloading a 7-charge drum.
Decay Soviet Union was accompanied by a widespread surge in violence that engulfed most regions of the once united country. During this period, cases of terrorism and hostage-taking increased sharply, and interethnic conflicts arose.
The trigger mechanism allows firing in single shots and bursts. The firing mode translator, which also serves as a fuse, is located on the left side of the receiver above the trigger guard.
The PP-90 Ml submachine gun was developed by the KBP enterprise and is intended for arming police units and internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, army units not directly participating in hostilities, crews of armored vehicles and helicopters, as well as crews of heavy infantry weapons.
The PP-90 Ml largely meets the basic requirements for modern personal defense weapons, which are being developed in many countries around the world in accordance with the PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) concept. As is known, such weapons must always be with a serviceman, without interfering with the performance of his duties, i.e. be as light and compact as possible. At the same time, it must ensure sufficient fire efficiency to deter an enemy armed with combined arms small arms.
Since 2008, police departments and units of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia have been receiving PP-19 -02 submachine guns. 20 "Vityaz-SN". This submachine gun was developed and manufactured at Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant OJSC. The tactical and technical assignment for its development was issued by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2003, and the name of the topic of development work, which was subsequently assigned to the submachine gun, is directly related to the special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Vityaz", whose commander S.I. Lysyuk became the initiator this development.
It should be noted that another prototype during the development of the “Vityaz” was the PP-19 “Bison” submachine gun, from which the automation system was borrowed, working by using the recoil energy of the free shutter. At the same time, however, it was necessary to change the design of the rammer, since, unlike the Bison magazine with a single-row cartridge output, the Vityaz magazine was made double-row with a staggered arrangement of cartridges. Compared to the Bison, the position of the reloading handle has also been changed. It is moved forward, and the cutout for it in the receiver cover is completely covered by the firing mode translator shield (when the latter is in the “safety” position). This prevents dirt from getting inside the receiver.
The main ammunition for both versions of the Vityaz submachine gun is the new 9x19 mm PRS cartridge (PRS - reduced ricocheting ability). It has a lead-core jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of 360 m/s.
In 1991, the American company Calico began production of a submachine gun with an original auger magazine, the capacity of which was 50-100 rounds. Although the cost of this weapon was almost twice the cost of other similar submachine guns, the following year the first 1,000 Calico submachine guns entered service with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, orders for the submachine gun came from the Forces special operations and Corps Marine Corps USA. By mid-1996, exports were made to 27 countries.
Similar weapons were created in Russia. At the end of 1993, a photograph of the President appeared on the pages of Russian and foreign publications Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin with the original appearance weapon in hand - this is how the latest development of the designers of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, the PP-19 “Bison-2” submachine gun, was demonstrated.
The PP-91 Kedr submachine gun is in service with many law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation. They are armed with special units of police and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal service execution of punishments, the Federal Service for Drug Control, departmental security officers, the Courier Service and collectors. The first 40 pre-production samples of PP-91 “Kedr” were manufactured in 1992 at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, subsequently mass production was organized at the Zlatoust Machine-Building Plant.
The simple and technologically advanced design of PP-91 “Kedr” is
further development of the pistol - machine gun PP-71, developed by E.F. Dragu new in the late 1960s. according to the tactical and technical specifications of the GRAU of the USSR Ministry of Defense within the framework of the “Bouquet” experimental design program. Work on the creation of the PP-92 was also carried out under the leadership of E. F. Dragunov, so the weapon was called “Cedar” - designed by Evgeny Dragunov.
Adopted in the early 1990s. The PP-91 Kedr submachine gun, which is used by units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, has one, but very significant drawback - its ammunition is a 9x18 mm PM pistol cartridge, which is not powerful enough to hit targets wearing personal armor protection. The effective firing range of this submachine gun does not exceed 50 m. For this reason, in the early 1990s. An attempt was made to increase the combat characteristics of the submachine gun of this system by developing its version for a more powerful 9x18 mm PMM cartridge, made in the dimensions of the 9x18 mm PM cartridge, but having a larger powder charge and a lighter bullet with a pointed head.
The bullet of the 9x18 mm PMM cartridge has an initial speed of 425 m/s and at a distance of 20 m penetrates a steel sheet 3 mm thick or a body passenger car, and at a distance of 10 m it ensures the destruction of a living target protected by army body armor.
In 1997, at an arms exhibition in Moscow, the Gepard submachine gun, developed on an initiative basis by the designers of military unit 33491 and JSC ROKS, was demonstrated for the first time. The creation of this submachine gun was due to the fact that, due to the use of insufficiently effective ammunition, many modern Russian pistols machine guns do not ensure reliable destruction of targets wearing personal protective equipment.
« Cheetah"is a system on the basis of which it is possible to create a family of submachine guns that optimally meet the requirements of various law enforcement agencies.
A shortened assault rifle was used as a basis for the development of the Cheetah. AKS-74U, from which the wooden forend and linings, the firing mode translator, sighting devices and a shortened receiver were borrowed. Moreover, in contrast to the OTs-39 P version, chambered for a powerful 9×19 mm cartridge, the 7 N21 pistol is one of the significant features OTs-22"Buk" are small in size and weight. This was achieved through the use of a “pistol” layout with the magazine placed in the fire control handle. Gun- machine gun equipped with mechanism
mi automation, working by using the recoil energy of the free shutter.
It was about noon. Weekday. They walked imposingly through the empty courtyard, looking sternly around. With machine guns. I noticed them from the window on the landing. And just like that, I went for a walk with my child to a hill with a sandbox. For a second I froze in horror.
For nine months of life in a small European country I have never seen people with machine guns.
Or rather, I saw it every day, but on TV - in the news from Syria, Somalia, Palestine and other hot spots. Well, in films, of course, about war, about Latin American drug lords, about a future in which, without a blaster, inevitable death awaits you.
Probably, a real European would take the child in his arms and run with him out of harm’s way back home. And I remembered that outside the window was Moscow. People walking around the city with machine guns is the norm here, because these are police officers, they are allowed.
Who hasn’t been asked for documents at night at Kalashnikov gunpoint? Whose car hasn't been stopped by a policeman with a submachine gun dangling from his back? Who hasn’t given up a line in a store to a patrol armed with machine guns who came in to buy Coke before closing?
"This is weird. “You’re probably lucky with them,” our photo editor, the beautiful girl Yulia, listened to my story in surprise. “For some reason I don’t meet them.” There are things that you get used to and no longer pay any attention to them. Well, they walk around with machine guns, so what? In addition, machine gunners are indeed less likely to be seen in Moscow than in Dagestan, for example.
There are several countries in the world where street police patrols do not carry any firearms: Great Britain (except Northern Ireland), Ireland, Norway, Malta and New Zealand. In England, where bobbies have only a baton, handcuffs, a canister and a stun gun, the debate over arming the police is endless. While the arguments of those who are against guns are winning: the policeman will receive a deceptive sense of self-confidence, the weapon may be stolen, criminals will also acquire pistols, and an arms race dangerous for citizens will begin. In a shootout, a pistol will not protect you from a bullet fired at you, but it creates an obvious threat to life random passers-by. The main principle is to quickly call in armed support from special forces if necessary.
But this is a debate about whether or not to give pistols to patrol officers. A machine gun is a weapon of war. This is a very clear symbol that is understandable to the whole world. In November 2010, when a threat of terrorist attack was declared in Germany, police patrols in Berlin were issued machine guns. Photos of machine gunners with the Reichstag in the background went viral on the Internet. “Citizens can see that the police are acting,” the German Interior Minister said at the time.
The threat of a terrorist attack for Moscow, unfortunately, is not a myth. But to prevent them, there are special units of both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB. What does the usual city patrol have to do with this? The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is the presence in Moscow of a constant terrorist threat of the “orange” and maybe even the “red” level.
Perhaps the problem is that the pistols that Russian police usually use are so outdated that they have to be supplemented with machine guns. You can’t just ban police officers from carrying machine guns, because it scares citizens and tourists. To do this, they must first be given modern pistols. That is, it turns out that it’s cheaper with an automatic. The problem of state poverty in general.
About ten years ago, my wife and I went on vacation to Egypt. We lived in the desert, in a hotel remote from all living things on the shores of the Red Sea. It occupied a huge territory. It had everything: its own large beach, several restaurants, pleasure boats, camels, horses, a diving center, sports grounds, a cinema hall. It was possible not to leave there at all, except on an excursion to the tombs of the pharaohs. This entire area was surrounded by a high concrete fence with barbed wire, and there were large numbers of Egyptian machine gunners stationed around the perimeter. Then it was difficult to say who could attack us in the middle of the desert. Imhotep perhaps. But such precautions quite created an unpleasant feeling of serious danger.
So it is in Moscow. It is not difficult for a visitor to guess that since the police are constantly walking around here with machine guns, it means that the city has serious security problems, that there is a war and heavily armed bandits somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, the authorities like to talk about the fact that in Moscow the level of robberies and assaults is steadily falling; it is already two times lower than in New York. If this is indeed the case, it is time to carry out demilitarization.
