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MADE IN RUSSIA
THE NEW ASSAULT RIFLE
The new assault rifle 7.62 A-91 is based on the bullpup scheme. The
trigger is ahead of the magazine and this sharply reduces the butt's length.
The length of the rifle is 800 millimetres and the length of the barrel
is 415 millimetres.
But the bullpup scheme has two serious problems: first - the left-
and right- handers. When the left-hander holds the rifle, the bolt moves
near the cheek and spent cartridge cases fly near the face. The second
problem is that gas affects the eyes and the nasopharynx and this complicates
shooting, long bursts of fire make the soldier's eyes water.
The new rifle does not have such problems. Spent cartridge cases are
thrown forward, not to the side. And this resolves two problems. Both -the
left and right-hander can use the rifle and gas does not affect the gunner
since gas is thrown forward to. The rifle has the magazine of the Kalashnikov
assault rifle for 30 cartridges.
The weight of the new rifle is 3,3 kilogrammes. This makes it possible
to use the rifle effectively for shooting with usual cartridges and for
using launching grenades. The rifle has also a grenade-launcher. The new
rifle has a sighting device for moving targets. Other aiming devices will
also be developed to enhance the efficiency of fire .
FAMILY OF SPACE CARRIER-ROCKETS "ANGARA"
 The "Angara"
carrier-rocket, has told the deputy head of the strategic planning department
at the Khrunichev Space Centre Oleg Roskin, is a basically new and the
most up-to-date brainchild of Russian rocket designers. The rockets operate
on liquid propellant, a mixture of kerosene and oxygen, and we see them
as ecologically secure.
There are three types of rockets in the "Angara" family.
The first one is a light rocket with a payload capacity of up to 2 tonnes,
a rocket meant for putting into orbit small telecommunications satellites.
The second rocket is capable of taking off with twice payload that is 4
tonnes. And the third rocket with a payload of 20 tonnes is expected to
replace the "Proton" carrier that's normally launched from the
Baikonour cosmodrome in Kazakhstan .
A STEALTH FRIGATE
The pilot ship of the series is already under construction in a nation
in Southeast Asia that ordered the design.
The frigate's streamlined hull and low-profile superstructure provide
an excellent hiding envelope for everything that generates noise or heat,
reflects radar pulses or disturbs magnetic fields. Moreover, the superstructure
can be coated with stealth materials that make it completely invisible
to radars.
Propelled by two powerful water jets, the ship can race across incredible
shallows at over 30 knots. Big fuel tanks and fuel-saving diesel engines
allow it to carry out missions at up to 3 thousand nautical miles from
home base. Despite the tonnage of just 545, the frigate carries a formidable
array of weaponry on board. This includes eight X-35 cruise missiles with
a range of over 130 kilometres, two torpedo tubes, several anti-aircraft
missile batteries of the VIKHR-K and IGLA makes and a number of large-caliber
machine-guns. The frigate will come in versions which include a powerful
gunboat, a patrol ship, a plane shooter and a hunter for submarines .
21ST-CENTURY MISSILE COMPLEX
According to Nikolay Guschin, chief and senior designer of the Machinebuilding
Design Office, the complex is meant ' for covertly preparing and launching
effective missile strikes at small-size targets of particular importance.
A specificity of this complex is the high level of automation in the pre-launch
preparations little time required to make it ready, and the high precision
of shooting.
Research carried out by specialists from the leading Russian military
science centers has shown that the lskander-E missile complex is 5 to 8
times better than its foreign analogues in terms of the "effectiveness-cost"
criterion. As for its tactical and technical characteristics, it also poses
a great improvement on the existing Russian tactical missile complexes.
Capable of accomplishing tasks connected with the use of non-nuclear warheads,
it's the world's first complex equipped with two-missile launch installation.
Weighing 3800 kilos each, controlled throughout the trajectory of their
flight, equipped with various systems of correction and self-targeting,
its missiles are capable of overcoming the enemy's anti-missile defences
and hitting targets at a distance of 280 kilometers. The effectiveness
of the lskander-E complex is equivalent to the use of nuclear warheads.
According to military experts, the lskander-E missile complex will
serve as "determent weapon" in local conflicts, and as strategic
arms for the countries with limited territory. Its great range of shooting
making it possible to use it from the depth of one's own positions, and
the brief time it can stay in its launch position make the complex virtually
invulnerable to ordinary weapons.
The composition of the complex makes it possible to ensure the full
cycle of its use in combat, including its combat control, information base,
technical servicing and the training of its crews, without the involvement
of additional remedies .
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