The OTs-14 Groza (Cyrillic: ОЦ-14 Гроза, "Thunderstorm"), often incorrectly called the OC-14 Groza, is a Russian bullpup assault rifle.
History[]
As hinted by the OTs moniker, the OTs-14 was the brainchild of two engineers at TsKIB SOO, Yuri Lebedev and Valery Telesh, both of whom were responsible for the design of the very similar GP-25 and GP-30 underbarrel grenade launchers meant to be used on the AK-74. Both designers wanted to design a rifle which would incorporate all the advantages of an AKS-74U into a compact and modular weapon system, and thus, the OTs-14 was born.
The rifle was first displayed at MILPOL Moscow in 1994, and was adopted by the Russian MVD shortly after its unveiling; the MVD later brought the weapon up to the Russian Ministry of Defense which also had requirements for a similar weapon. Due to this, the OTs-14 was later adapted for use with various special force units, such as the Spetsnaz.
Design Details[]
The OTs-14 is practically a copy of the AKS-74U internally, except reconfigured in a bullpup format and chambered for a different cartridge. The OTs-14 is of an extremely modular design, with various parts of the weapon being able to be swapped out and replaced with other parts; for instance, the signature foregrip can be changed out for a GP-30 grenade launcher. The weapon's barrel can be fitted with a quick-detach silencer. As the OTs-14 is practically a bullpup clone of the AKS-74U, all the AKS-74U's controls are retained on the OTs-14, and as such, is operated very similarly.
Ammunition[]
Originally chambered in the subsonic 9×39mm SP-6 cartridge used in the AS Val and VSS Vintorez, the OTs-14 was later adapted for the more standard 7.62×39mm cartridge. There are also experimental variants of the OTs-14 that are chambered for mid-powered cartridges, such as 5.56×45mm NATO and 5.45×39mm, but failed to garner any interest and were not adopted as a result.
Variants[]
- OTs-14-1A Groza-1
Primary model used since 1998 by the Russian Military in various divisions. Chambered in 7.62×39mm.
Sub-variants:
- OTs-14-1A-01
Carbine variant. Has a vertical foregrip.
- OTs-14-1A-02
Specialized carbine variant. Has a short barrel with threads to fit a suppressor.
- OTs-14-1A-03
Specialized marksman variant. Practically the same as the 1A-02 except that it has a mounting bracket to mount a telescopic sight.
- OTs-14-1A-04 7,62/40
Specialized full-sized variant with full-length barrel and an underbarrel GP-30 grenade launcher. Appears to be in limited service with the Russian Naval Infantry as of 2014.
- OTs-14-2A
Experimental variant chambered in 5.45×39mm. Never adopted due to users preferring the power of the 7.62×39mm round when firing from a short-barreled rifle.
- OTs-14-3A
Experimental variant chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. Never adopted due to lack of interest from foreign customers and the Russian military.
- OTs-14-4A Groza-4
Original variant produced chambered in the subsonic 9×39mm round adopted in 1994 by some Russian special forces.
Sub-variants:
- OTs-14-4A-01
Carbine variant. Has a vertical foregrip.
- OTs-14-4A-02
Specialized carbine variant. Has a short barrel with threads to fit a suppressor.
- OTs-14-4A-03
Specialized marksman variant. Practically the same as the 4A-02 except that it has a mounting bracket to mount a telescopic sight.
- OTs-14-4A-04 9/40
Specialized full-sized variant with full-length barrel and an underbarrel GP-30 grenade launcher.