History and Usage
Ballistic or 'firing knives' are believed to have first appeared as part of the equipment issued to Soviet and Eastern Bloc special forces formations, such as the Soviet Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya, or Spetsnaz. By 1985, spring-powered ballistic knives were being advertised for sale in the United States in the Shotgun News, Soldier of Fortune, and other publications.
Ballistic knives were originally intended by Soviet military planners to be an improvement on teaching the skill of knife throwing as basic training to new Spetsnaz trainees. The vast numbers of men recruited into the armed forces of the Soviet Union resulted in restrictions on available training time, even for elite forces, and knife throwing required many hours of training and practice. The ballistic knife, which was relatively easy to operate and manufacture, required much less practice than learning to throw a knife by hand. Its primary advantage was the element of surprise. The blade can remain attached to the handle and used as a typical fixed-blade combat knife or launched as a projectile by pulling a pin and pressing a button.
In its spring-propelled form, the blade of a ballistic knife is theoretically capable of being fired to an effective range of around 5 meters (about 16 feet) at a speed of 63 km/h (39 mph). Ballistic knives using compressed air or gas propulsion to fire the blade can be made somewhat more powerful, and do not suffer from spring fatigue over time. However, since the projectile blade of most ballistic knives has no aerodynamic or gyroscopic stabilization, the blade frequently tumbles after traveling a short distance. While easier to learn than the skill of knife throwing, the jarring shock caused by unleashing the expanding spring and a lack of a sighting mechanism contributed to its inaccuracy, making it advisable to close to within a few feet to ensure the blade delivered a killing blow to a targeted and vulnerable area of the body. Soviet training doctrine of the day emphasized the use of the thrown knife as a silent weapon, designed to kill or incapacitate an unsuspecting opponent at just beyond grappling distance (five to six paces); the ballistic knife appears to fit within that tactical doctrine.
In addition to spring, air, or gas propulsion, the blade of a ballistic knife may also be propelled by an explosive charge, such as a blank pistol cartridge.
Read more about this topic: Ballistic Knife
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