Stephen M. Katz photos | The Virginian-Pilot
Posted on 10/13/2007 2:06:00 AM PDT by csvset
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| Tom Maffin, senior gunsmith for Transformational Defense Industries Inc. demonstrates the company's revolutionary Kriss Super V 45 caliber submachine gun at a range on the Blackwater USA campus in Moyock, N.C. Stephen M. Katz photos | The Virginian-Pilot
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MOYOCK, N.C.
His Ford Crown Victoria disabled by hostile fire, driver Tom Maffin scrambled from the car, crouched behind the hood and sprayed a target with automatic gunfire to cover for a passenger.
Maffin's weapon: a KRISS Super V .45-caliber submachine gun.
If you're military or law enforcement and haven't heard of it, chances are you soon will.
Maffin is senior gunsmith for Transformational Defense Industries Inc., a weapons technology firm that conducts its research and development from a Virginia Beach office park near Lynnhaven Mall. Watch video of the KRISS Super V submachine gun.
By early next year, the Washington-based TDI plans to open a production facility in Virginia Beach to begin manufacturing the submachine gun for police and military use and a .45-caliber semi automatic carbine for the commercial shooting market.
Industry experts say the weapons are unlike any other now on the market and could shake up the firearms world.
What makes the weapons special, company and industry officials say, is a new patented operating system that substantially reduces recoil and muzzle climb when fired.
The recoil, or kick, of a conventional weapon is directed backward into a shooter's shoulder, causing the gun to rise off target. TDI's "Super V" bolt-and-slide mechanism directs the energy downward in front of the trigger.
Company tests indicate the mechanism reduces recoil by 40 to 60 percent and muzzle rise by about 95 percent over conventional gun operating systems.
At a Thursday demonstration for media at a Blackwater USA firing range in Moyock, officials said their system improves accuracy and reduces user fatigue. The submachine gun can be fired with one hand and remain on target.
"This is the future of weapons right here," said Andrew Finn, TDI's senior vice president.
TDI has worked with the Army and special operations forces to develop the technology. It uses Blackwater's facilities to field test the weapons.
Officials set up the disabled vehicle scenario to demonstrate the maneuverability and firepower of the .45-caliber submachine gun, which TDI says is ideal for close-quarter situations the police and military encounter in urban settings.
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The gun, which weighs about 5 pounds unloaded and collapses to a length of 16 inches, can be easily carried in helicopters, Humvees and other vehicles, said Maffin, a retired Marine who began working at TDI's Virginia Beach operation about a year ago.
"Seeing this product for the first time in my interview, I was sold," Maffin said. "It's got the knockdown power a lot of guys want."
Members of the media at the Thursday event, heavy in such trade publications as Guns & Ammo and Small Arms Review magazines, were allowed to shoot the submachine gun and the carbine.
"The reduction in recoil is absolutely amazing," said Wendy Henry, who works in Pennsylvania for Women In Scope, a TV series that promotes women's awareness of firearms. "It's very easy to maintain your control over it."
Frank Borelli, a law enforcement and military consultant in Maryland, said the weapon is "going to rock the firearms industry." He has fired the TDI submachine gun but did not attend the event.
"What they're doing is very different," Borelli said.
Some industry experts question whether the company will make significant inroads with military and police, which have moved away from submachine guns - in part because their pistol-caliber rounds can't pierce body armor. The gun's price tag - now expected to retail in the $1,200-to-$1,300 range - also could chill sales.
Company officials said interest is high, noting that they worked with the Army's Picatinny armament research and development arsenal in New Jersey to develop the technology.
These guns are the first product that TDI, a five-year-old subsidiary of Switzerland-based Gamma Research and Technologies Holding SA, has brought to market.
Chuck Kushell, TDI's chief executive officer and director, said the Virginia Beach operation, dubbed Viking Works, will grow once production starts in January or February.
 Prototypes of the KRISS Super V .45-caliber submachine gun and carbine are displayed at TDI’s production facility in Virginia Beach.
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Currently, eight engineers, machinists and gunsmiths work in a 4,000-square-foot facility. Kushell said he expects to more than double the space and add 15 to 20 employees as the company ramps up over the next few months.
To reach the civilian market, the company developed the .45-caliber carbine. Plans call for marketing it primarily to shooting enthusiasts who would use it for competitions and target practice, but it also could be used for hunting.
"This is not going to be a gun for everyone," Kushell said.
Company officials said the Super V mechanism can be adapted to any caliber weapon. Work currently is under way on a 12-gauge shotgun. And the company has won an Army contract valued at a little over $1 million to develop a lighter-weight, more user-friendly .50-caliber machine gun, Kushell said.
Jon W. Glass, (757) 446-2318, jon.glass@pilotonline.com
He’s holding and firing it with one hand! It must be very light. Carbon fiber?
The article says it weighs 5 lbs EMPTY! That sounds like a lot of weight to be one-handing even with the recoil aside
The question is, does it really offer improved control or hit probability over the PDWs from FN and HK, and advanced SMG designs like HK's UMP. It does look sufficiently compact to offer some advantage in concealability for security personnel.
Rifle caliber carbines are the tactical du jour at the moment though, I wonder how much attention this will actually get.
“Sadly, with liberals and their minions in control of the government bureaucracy, life saving innovations that increase the overall effectiveness of such military/police teams will stand a poor chance of making to the field.”
Sadly the life the liberals want saved is the perps; you and I really don’t count.
>>That’s what killed the Thompson in the end, isn’t it?
I believe what killed the Thompson was that it was complex and expensive to manufacture, especially once the M3 grease gun started hitting the inventory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_submachine_gun
Bob didn’t make it - and he wasn’t smiling...
“NO! Thanks to a Democratic Kongress and a Republican president (Reagan) working in the spirit of bipartisanship to destroy our rights”
The appropriate license isn’t all that hard to get. I was at the range the other day and someone was there firing a suppressed pistol (same type of paperwork). It costs a couple of hundred dollars.
I’m not a big fan of full auto myself. A 6.5 Grendel with collapsing stock and 20” or so barrel works for me...good out to 1200 yds or so. ;-)
You don't know what you're talking about. Supressed pistols are NOT the same. In 1986 ALL newly manufactured full auto weapons were forever banned from ownership by ordinary citizens. You can legally own a full auto weapon - I own more than one, but it MUST have been manufactured prior to 1986. SO NOTHING full auto that is newly manufactured is available to anyone but the police and military (and apparently Blackwater)
Reading my response, it appears that it could be taken as rude. It was not my intention to sound that way, so no offense meant.
That’s what I noticed too. I have to give them a lot of credit for figuring out the firing pin connection.
I’m still waiting for some company to design a revolver like the Mateba that uses a six o’clock position for the barrel.
“Sorry - if the bullet is going away from you, the recoil is 180° away - towards you.
Newton’s third law - it’s not just a suggestion - it’s the law.
This firearm has the center of the barrel in line with the shooters hand - eliminating angular forces from the equation and reducing muzzle rise. The movement of other components may change the perceived recoil but the net result is still opposite the travel of the projectile.”
I always thought that the equal and opposite reaction to the bullet leaving forward, was the bolt moving backwards. Once the bolt stops, its kinetic energy is transferred to the frame, and on to the shooter in the same line of travel. If the bolt doesn’t stop until it’s travelling downward, I would think that the only recoil would be at the point when it’s turning the corner.
Actually, due to unconstitutional laws passed by our "superiors", this gun will have no effect on the firearms world. It might have some impact upon the police and military, though. We peasants can't presently own machine guns newer than 1986 legally under any circumstances.
True, and they could fire up cobray and start producing new one's for about 200 per as opposed to the way out of line price.
Money isn't a big object if Uncle Sugar signs on. Groups like the DSS don't care what a gun costs.
But it's an interesting point. How many MAC-10s can the govt buy for the cost of one KRISS? Ten? Twenty?
Not that the govt cares.
Plus, the .223 shoots flat and accurately out to at least 300 yards. Not that 300 yard shots are common in a patrol situation, but going back to the North Hollywood case, a single .223 in a patrol car could have ended the incident in the first minutes from a range of over 100 yards.
Blackwater! LOL! They could get into trouble with a bunch of weapons like this! (sarcasm)
My grandpa favored the grease gun much more than the thompson because it had a more accuracy when he used them in WW2.
Dad started his Army career as a tanker in the mid-50s, and he loved the grease gun. Went on to be a pilot, but spent some time in M41s.
Yeah, my grandpa was a tank gunner. Seems to be a correlation with tankers liking grease guns. =D
“The article says it weighs 5 lbs EMPTY! That sounds like a lot of weight to be one-handing even with the recoil aside”
Yeah. I’d have trouble holding five pounds steady , especially at arm’s length.
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