Military organizations have struggled for generations with two
frequently overlapping problems: (1) how to arm troops whose
primary mission is something other than the use of small arms;
and (2) how to arm troops who need compact firepower for
conducting special operations. A remarkable array of pistols,
submachind guns and carbines have been fielded over the years
in an, attempt to give people such as vehicle drivers, operators
of crew-served weapons, support personnel and special operators
a weapon with the optimum mix of compact size, hit probability,
sustained firepower and terminal ballistics. Recent decades
have also seen a similar quest in law enforcement to provide
superior sidearms and auxiliary weapons for officers facing a
changing tactical environment. The result is that sidearms,
submachine guns and carbines developed for the aforementioned
special military needs have become widely used tools within
law enforcement. One of the most provocative attempts to
solve the common requirements of both the military and law
enforcement is the select-fire P90 Personal Defense Weapon
designed and manufactured by Fabrique National Herstal SA
of Belgium.
Russian PSM
It's interesting that one aspect of the changing tactical
environment faced by both the military and law enforcement
is that an armed opponent may be wearing body armor. In
the late 1970s, the former Soviet Union was the first major
power to develop a new class of pistol cartridge, the 5.45x18mm
PMT, which was designed to penetrate standard body armor
with ease, with the ancillary benefits of improving hit probability
and minimizing recoil. Developed by Aleksandr Bochkin in
1979, the bottle-necked cartridge appears to be a scaled-down
version of the 5.45x39mm rifle round adopted by the Soviets
in 1974 for the AK-74 assault rifle. The Soviets developed a
new pistol for the new 5.45x18mm round called the Pistolet
Samozaryadniy Malogabaritniy, the "Miniature Semiautomatic
Pistol" or PSM for short. Designed by Tikkon Lashnev, Anatoliy
Simarin and Lev Kulikov, the PSM superficially resembles a
Walther PP pistol and will penetrate up to 55 layers of kevlar
at realistic engagement distances. With a steel core projectile
weighing 2.4-2.6 grams (37-41 grains, which is less than half
the weight of the 9x18mm Makarov round it replaced), a muzzle
velocity of 315 mps (1,033 fps) and a powder charge of 0.15
gram (2.3 grains), the 5.45x18mm PMT cartridge also provides
a relatively flat trajectory and modest recoil. These qualities
improve hit probability when troops of average skill use the
PSM as a defensive weapon.
NATO Request
Some NATO planners subsequently became concerned about
the issue of body armor on the battlefield and decided that
the 9x19mm cartridge was now obsolete, since it wouldn't
penetrate the body armor they imagined would become standard
equipment for infantry troops. These NATO planners informally
approached the small-arms industry about the possibility of
developing a new class of cartridge to replace the 9x19mm
NATO round for personal defense. Only two companies were
willing to invest the substantial R&D funds on such a speculative
venture; Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and Giat of France began
the development of new bottle-neck cartridges in the mid-1980s.
Gun/Cartridge Details
The two companies took somewhat different approaches. Giat
concentrated on developing a new cartridge resembling a .30
Luger round necked down to .22 caliber, which they called the
5.7x22mm. Fabrique Nationale not only developed a larger round,
the 5.7x28mm, but FN also developed a series of innovative weapons
around the new cartridge: a select-fire bullpup weapon with a
50-round horizontal magazine on top of the receiver and an extremely
accurate, lightweight (19 ounce), high capacity (20 round) pistol
called the Five-Seven. FN publicly announced they were developing
a personal defense weapon in 1989 which was scheduled for production
1990. Ironically, however, the P90 was not named for the year of
its initial production, but rather for FN's "Project 9.0" which spawned
it.
When Giat became the parent company of Fabrique Nationale, Giat
abandoned the 5.7x22mm project in favor of FN's more advanced
project for several reasons. (1) FN's 5.7x28mm cartridge met all
of the NATO requirements. And (2) Giat didn't have a weapon
designed for its cartridge, but FN had already developed the P90
for its new cartridge. The first public demonstration of the Five-seveN
pistol subsequently took place in 1995, and an improved variant
went into production in May 1998. The external ballistics provided
by FN's 5.7x28mm cartridge are vastly superior to the performance
provided by the Russian 5.45x18mm PMT cartridge. As of this writing,
the P90 has been adopted by more
than a dozen countries in limited numbers.
With an overall length of just 19.7 inches (.50.0 cm), the P90 is
considerably shorter than the 9x19mm H&K MP5 submachine gun
or the 5.56x45mm Colt M4 carbine. The P90 weighs 5.9 pounds
(2.5 kg) with an empty magazine and 6.6 pounds (3.0 kg) with a
fully loaded 50-round magazine, which is similar to the weight
of an MP5 with a 30-round magazine. The P90 is just 8.25 inches
(21.0 cm) high with a magazine fitted to the weapon.
The P90 features an optical reflex sight (with no magnification),
and a three-position rotary selector beneath the trigger with
positions marked "S" for Safe, "1" for semiautomatic and "A" for
Automatic. When set on A, the selector provides a two-stage
trigger similar to the Steyr AUG. Pull the trigger back a little for
semiautomatic fire and pull the trigger fully to the rear for full-auto
fire. A cyclic rate of 900 rpm enables the operator to obtain two-
or three-shot bursts. Shot dispersion remains remarkably tight,
thanks in part to the fact that the 5.7x28mm cartridge has about
one-third of the recoil impulse produced by the 5.56x45mm round
used in the M16 family of weapons. Apparent recoil and shot
dispersion are also mitigated by twin operating (recoil) springs
and guide rods which, like the trigger, are reminiscent of the Steyr
AUG. Sal Fanelli of FN Manufacturing Inc. puts on a particularly
impressive demonstration, where he shoots a 50-round burst of
tracers into the center of mass in a Milpark target at 50 meters
(55 yards). His tightest 50-round burst to date measured 9.5 inches
(24 cm).
Three rounds are available for the P90 at this time. The standard
ball round, called the SS190, features an overall length of 1.6
inches (40.5 mm), a projectile weight of 31.0 grains (2.02 grams)
and a muzzle velocity of 2,345 fps (715 mps). The SS190 projectile
features steel core in front of an aluminum core toward the base.
The bullet penetrates about 10 inches (26 cm) of 10 percent ballistic
gelatin, according to testing conducted at the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police Academy in September 1997. The SS190 round will also
penetrate 48 layers of Kevlar, the typical "Flak jacket" (including
CRISAT protection, which is a combination of titanium and Kevlar)
worn by infantry to protect them from shrapnel produced by
exploding devices, or a standard PASGT (U.S. Kevlar) helmet at
150 meters (164 yards), which is the effective range of the P90
Personal Defense Weapon. The weapon will still defeat Level 3
body armor at 200 meters (219 yards). The "maximum effective
range" using the NATO definition (the maximum range where a
weapon's projectile will still deliver 85 joules on target) is 400
meters (437 yards). Thus, according to NATO standards, the P90
is theoretically able to deliver a lethal wound on a protected
target at 200m and an unprotected target at 400m if the round
hits a vital area. Personally, I would not be enthusiastic about
engaging targets beyond 150m with the standard SS190 round.
The subsonic SB193 round used for this testing features a lead
core boattail bullet with a projectile weight of 55.0 grains (3.58
grams) and a muzzle velocity of 998 fps (304 mps) as measured
by a P.A.C.T MKIV timer/chronograph with MKV skyscreens set 24.0
inches apart and the start screen 8.0 feet from the muzzle (P.A.C.T,
Dept. GW/LE, P.O. Box 531525, Grand Prairie, TX 75053; 214-641-0049).
A new subsonic round featuring a 77-grain (5.0 gram) projectile
moving at the same velocity as the older subsonic round is about
to go into production, but no further details were available at
press time. A tracer round designated the L191 is also available.
The SS190 round weighs about half as much as a 9x19mm or 5.56x45mm
round, so carrying a given amount of extra ammunition would be
less burdensome for personnel already concerned with impedimenta.
Conversely, special operators could carry twice as much ammunition
for the same weight.
P90 Operation
Despite the fact that the P90 Personal Defense Weapon fires a
bottle-necked cartridge, which looks something like a downsized
.22 Hornet, the weapon fires using an unusual method of operation
that might be described as a cross between the short recoil and
simple Bergmann-Bayard straight blowback principles. Upon firing,
the 10.35-inch (26.3 cm) barrel and bolt recoil rearward for about
0.030 of an inch (0.76 mm), enabling the pressure in the barrel to
drop to a safe level. When the barrel (which features a 1 in 9 inch
rate of twist) stops its rearward travel, the bolt continues rearward
in straight blowback fashion. FN Herstal SA seems to have developed
a unique flavor of delayed blowback operation. Unlike the typical
submachine gun, however, the P90 fires from the closed bolt to
maximize semiautomatic accuracy. Recoil is brisk but very smooth,
and cycling is reliable thanks in part to an anti-bounce weight in
the bolt, which is operated by one of the main operating (recoil)
springs. Polymers are extensively used throughout the P90 to
reduce both the weight and the cost of the weapon. The human
engineering of the weapon is outstanding and ambidextrous.
A variety of features enhance the ambidextrous qualities of the
P90. Both sides of the weapon feature a charging handle, auxiliary
fixed sights and a magazine release. The manual selector below
the trigger can be operated from either side of the trigger. The
stock and grips are symmetrical. And the weapon ejects downward,
so lefties don't need to worry about hot brass in the face.
One of the most interesting features of the P90, which helps make
the weapon so compact, is the polycarbonate 50-round magazine
that locks in place between the charging handles and the optical
sight. The magazine features a follower with rollers and a
constant-force spring that make loading a 50-round magazine easy
instead of the usual thumb-busting exercise in frustration. But the
most noteworthy aspect of the magazine design is that loading one
cartridge forces the rounds under it to eventually rotate 90 degrees
to the right so they can slide into a double stack of cartridges in the
magazine body.
This rotation occurs in stepwise fashion. The first round in the
magazine sits in the magazine's feed lips at the 0 degree position
(where it will be aligned with the chamber when the magazine is
fitted to the weapon). Inserting a second cartridge forces the
cartridge under it to rotate to 82 or 83 degrees from the bore angle.
Adding another cartridge to the magazine pushes the original round
to the 87 degree position. Adding a fourth cartridge forces the
original Cartridge to the 90 degree position in the main body of the
magazine. Thus, the cartridges go through a four-step process to
become fully aligned in a double stack within the magazine.
Versatile Optics
The optical sight is made from a solid piece of glass so there's
no risk of nitrogen leaking and subsequent fogging in the field.
It has two complementary reticle patterns for differing lighting
conditions.
A day reticle, which is projected into the sight from the front,
features a circular reticle which I particularly like since it provides
very rapid target acquisition throughout the effective range of
the weapon. The reticle has several markings which complement
each other. A very large circular reticle provides fast target
acquisition at panic-close range, while a much smaller circle is
optimized for target acquisition at 100 meters but works very well
at closer ranges. A tiny dot inside the smallest circle can be used
for maximum finesse; this dot lies 3.7 inches (94 mm) above the
center of the bore.
A low-light reticle, which is illuminated by a replaceable tritium
cell, is projected into the optical sight from the rear. It is normally
invisible in bright daylight conditions unless the sight is shaded
by the brim of a large hat. A horizontal reticle runs across the
center of the field from one side to the other, and a vertical reticle
runs from the bottom of the field to the small circle. These lines
form three legs of a traditional crosshair reticle, which can be quite
useful inside dark buildings or during low-light operations outside.
In those relatively rare lighting conditions where both the day and
night reticles are visible, the sight picture is still uncluttered enough
to provide rapid target acquisition. This is a very well-engineered
optical sight. I wish it were available for the 5.56x45mm M4A1
carbine as well.
Controls/Safeties
The manual selector is positive and quiet, but not as instinctive
or fast as the selector on an MP5 submachine gun or M16-type
weapon. Other safety features include a safety sear that holds
the hammer until the bolt (which FN calls the breech block assembly)
has fully closed behind the chamber, and an inertial safety that
locks the sear if the weapon is dropped (solving a problem that
caused substantial casualties during World War II). Unlike most
submachine guns, the P90 is a very safe weapon to handle in the
rough and tumble real world. The P90 also has a very high resistance
to cook-offs following prolonged full-auto fire. Most end-users
fielding this weapon carry a maximum ammunition load of 400
rounds, and the P90 demonstrated no cook-off problems when
400 rounds were dumped as rapidly as possible downrange.
A final curiosity is that the design and materials of the P90 also
make the weapon very easy to clean, a process that only takes
about four minutes. This appeals to military SpecOps personnel,
who tend to have a special affection for weapons that require a
minimum of maintenance and, therefore, don't cut into their "Miller
Time."
In the next issue we'll conduct a detailed test and evaluation of
the P90's performance. We'll also discuss the dramatic operational
(i.e., combat) debut of the P90 and implications of that experience
for the law-enforcement community. FN will be marketing the P90
and silencer to both military and law enforcement through their
subsidiary FN Manufacturing, Inc. located in Columbia, SC. Products
are expected to be available in quantity in late 1998 or early
1999...
|