Assault rifle

An assault rifle is a rifle capable of automatic fire that fires an intermediate cartridge from a detachable box magazine.

Its cartridge falls in between the low power pistol ammunition used in pistols and submachine guns, and high power rifle ammunition used in Battle rifles and many sniper rifles. This intermediate round allows for a more controllable recoil in fully and semi-automatic than a full-power rifle round while still maintaining an effective range of several hundred meters.

Assault rifles are meant to be lightweight and though they are selective-fire weapons with large magazines, they do not have the thermal mass, cooling ability, or ammunition capacity to sustain a high volume of fire like a machine gun.

Evolution
One of the earliest rifles to come close to the qualifications for the assault rifle was the Russian Fedorov Avtomat ("Fedorov Automatic Rifle"). Designed in 1915, it was chambered for the Japanese 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge. Though a rifle round, the propellants used at the time made the cartridge low powered compared to other full powered rifle rounds both at the time and by modern standards. The rifle was an early attempt at a shoulder fired, selective fire, box fed, automatic rifle. It served in limited numbers in World War I but production was discontinued due to resulting strife of the Russian Civil War. However, many were taken out of storage and given to elite units during World War II.

Many other attempts at a lightweight, shoulder-fired, automatic rifle were made during World War I and onwards. Such examples include the failed French Chauchat light machine gun, and the successful M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, the latter of which became the main light machine gun used by the US Army and the US Marine Corps. However, neither of these were truly assault rifles.

The first true assault rifle came from Nazi Germany during World War II. German weapon manufacturers at the time experimented with various cartridges and eventually developed the 7.92x33mm Kurz ("Short"). In 1942 Walther Arms presented the Maschinenkarabiner ("automatic carbine," abbr. MKb), named MKb42(W) while Hugo Schmeisser designed the MKb42(H). Ultimately, Schmeisser's design proved more effective and was eventually developed into the Machinenpistole 43 and then the Machinenpistole 44 ("Machine Pistol 43/44", abbr. MP43/44) as a new submachine gun. After Hitler observed the effectiveness of the MP44 at range, which was able to accurately fire in fully automatic at range, he christened it the Sturmgewehr 44 ("Storm Rifle 44", abbr. StG44 or StG 44). The rifle was named the "Storm" rifle to imply the act of storming "i.e. assaulting" an enemy position. Thus the English translation became the assault rifle.

After World War II, Mikhail Kalashnikov was inspired by the design and concept of the StG 44 and in 1947 designed the 7.62x39mm WP as well the Avtomat Kalashnikov 47 ("Automatic Rifle Kalashnikov 47" abbr. AK-47). The AK-47 became the standard rifle of the Soviet army in 1949 and soon proved to be one of the most effective rifles ever designed. It was legendary for its fully automatic setting, power, and durability.

In the United States, studies conducted at the end of World War II revealed a number of things. Studies concluded that casualties caused by small arms fire occured at close range. Additionally, most of the time aiming and precision was not a major factor in causing casualties. Instead, most casualties were due to the number of bullets fired. Finally, psychological studies showed that the majority of infantrymen armed with semi-automatic rifles never fired their weapons at the enemy. By contrast, soldiers equipped with a fully automatic weapon were far more likely to fire at the enemy.

However, even with the results of these studies the U.S. still highly favored using a weapon that fired a long range round with high stopping power, and wanted a weapon that was chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. In 1959, the U.S. adopted the United States Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14 or simply the M14. Based on the M1 Garand used in World War II, the M14 had a 20-round detached box magazine, and a fully automatic setting. Though good on paper, the rifle had many problems in the jungles of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, especially when up against the AK-47. The large power of the round made it very difficult to control in fully automatic, and the weight of the ammunition did not allow for many rounds to be carried by a single infantryman when out on patrol. While accurate at long ranges, the M14's range was wasted in the jungles which provided plenty of cover and for most engagements with the NVA and Viet Cong to be at close range, and the powerful 7.62 often caused overpenetration which caused collateral damage.

The many issues with M14, and more specifically, the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, caused the U.S. Military to seriously look at an intermediate rifle cartridge. At the same time the M14 entered service, Eugene Stoner designed the AR-10 chambered in the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. Shortly afterwards, Remington Arms designed the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge. Stoner then shortened his AR-10 design and rechambered it for the 5.56 and renamed it the AR-15. It then entered army testing and was adopted as the Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16 in 1963. Though it had many problems in Vietnam which were eventually corrected, the design of the M16 had many advantages over the AK-47 and M14. the 5.56 had less recoil and the M16 was easily controlled in fully automatic. The lighter 5.56 also allowed for twice as many rounds to be carried into combat. The original design of the M16 also had less rifle twist, meaning that the bullet wasn't stabilized when it left the barrel. Because the bullet wasn't stabilized, it would tumble after hitting soft tissue and create a large cavity in the enemy. Though still nowhere near as powerful as the 7.62x51mm NATO, the 5.56 made up for this by easier to handle in fully automatic and thus being able to accurately send more rounds downrange. Furthermore, less power meant less penetration and less overpenetration to cause less collateral damage.

The design of the 5.56 and the M16 influenced rifle design greatly, and currently the 5.56 is the most used caliber in the world. It proved so effective, that the Soviet Union responded with their own intermediate rifle cartridge which phased out the 7.62x39mm WP. In 1972, the Soviets designed the 5.45x39mm WP, a round to rival the 5.56. In 1974, Mikhail Kalashnikov designed a new rifle for the cartridge, the Avtomat Kalashnikov 74 ("Automatic Rifle Kalashnikov 74" abbr. AK-74). With more easily handled recoil, the AK-74, like the M16, was accurate and controllable in fully automatic.

There have been many different designs and evolutions of the assault rifle including compact carbines, those that use caseless ammunition, those that feature a bullpup design, and other variations as the assault rifle continues to evolve.

In the Battlefield Series
The assault rifle has been featured in most games in the Battlefield Series. Most of the time the assault rifle is a part of the Assault Kit, however carbine variants of assault rifles are issued to the Engineer kit while sniper variants are issued to the Recon kit. However, battle rifles are not included as assault rifles.

Battlefield 1942
There is only one assault rifle in Battlefield 1942, the StG 44 though the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle is designed to in the game to be the U.S. equivalent.

Videos
Video:Battlefield Play4Free - Assault Rifle Sounds Video:Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Assault Rifle Sounds