Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMIHolistic consideration of the interaction of weapon, ammunition, and mounting parts
Handguns are usually made up of the subsystems weapon, ammunition and rifle scope, all of which are produced by different manufacturers. In combination, these subsystems have to fulfill the requirements imposed by the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) in various environmental conditions.
An interdisciplinary approach is required in order to be able to fully apprehend new requirements on aspects of ballistics, functional safety, accuracy performance and the interaction between components, some of which have newly been combined with each other.
One focus of the research conducted in the Systems Technology Analysis Group is the development of methods that can be applied for the analysis and testing of weapon, ammunition, and attachment parts. Over the past few years, studies on gun barrel vibration, the inhomogeneous heating of the entire system, and on muzzle signature have been conducted. Findings from this research have been incorporated in the corresponding sets of regulations and have been used for the formulation of requirements for future Bundeswehr equipment.