The next Kalashnikov?

I saw this article referenced and thought how interesting that this 15 year old teenager Maxim Kotelnikov, is possibly the "next Kalashnikov" (Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47) - and that still in Russia he can "push the envelope" in finding the next "elegant" design solution.  It is also what men are so good at - engineering excellence.

Russian Teenager Designs Noiseless Electric Rifle
Posted by Ivica Miskovic | Thursday, March 04, 2010 |

Russia's Defense Ministry has shown interest in the new electomechanical rifle the performance of which exceeds that of sniper weapons. The rifle was invented by a schoolboy in the city of Ufa.

Maxim Kotelnikov, an eighth-grader, designed his weapon after he had seen a TV program about the use of similar rifles in the USA and Korea. It took the boy a year to design the new weapon. He used his friend's broken game rifle as the basis. The rifle weighs nearly six kilos; it fires special cartridges that need to be magnetized in advance.

Russia's Defense Ministry showed interest in the new weapon and asked the boy's permission to test his rifle.

"This weapon is unique for it fires noiselessly. There is no shock of discharge
and a shot does not produce a flare. No other sniper rifle can do it. I designed
my own system, which I called the "Nucleus System," the boy said.

The rifle is based on the principle of accelerating coil. The rifle is powered
with electricity only. A bullet gathers speed immediately, PolitOnline reports
with referecne to Life.ru.

Maxim showed his creation to his teacher of physics. The teacher sent the
wunderkind to St. Petersburg, where the boy took part in "Russia's Young
Intellectuals" forum.

The 15-year-old boy took the first place at the forum and received a special
invitation for practice at the defense ministry. All further tests of Maxim's
weapon will be conducted under the guidance of ministerial scientists.

The boy will assemble three other rifles in St. Petersburg during one month. If
the tests are successful, it is not ruled out that the electromagnetic sniper
rifle will be launched into serial production for the needs of the Russian armed
forces.

PolitOnline.ru

http://www.aroundglobe.net/2010/03/russian-teenager-designs-noiseless.html