KN-70

The KN-70, officially known as the Katakalon Nikephoros Model no. 1970, also known as the Katakalon-70, or just the Katakalon is a,  and  that can be configured as a , a , a top-fed or  ,  or a vehicle mounted weapon. Developed in Zahava by Katakalon Nikephoros. It is the originating firearm of the Katakalon weapon family. 70 refers to the year it was finished and adopted into service 1970. The KN-70 was made to replace the BR-40, taking advantage of new materials, engineering practices, and other technological advances. Design work began in 1958 and in 1964 the then named KN-X1 was presented to the military for trials, and by 1969 the base model was being issued to select units for real world trials, with the rifle being adopted across all Imperial forces the following year.

Even after seven decades, the model and its variants remain popular and in service because of its reliability under harsh conditions, low production costs, and mission flexibility. The current base model is the KN-70X5 is equipped with a removable carrying handle, and rail for mounting optics and other ancillary devices. The KN-70 has also served as the basis for a number of other types of individual, crew-served and specialized firearms.

Origins
As early as 1930 the Zahavan general staff, directorate of armaments had recommended transitioning to smaller caliber rounds for main issue combat rifles, citing the logistical resources that had to be devoted strictly to ammunition, and reports from troops going back to the end of the Zahavan Civil War who stated their typical five to seven round strip clips provided them with insufficient ammunition for the sustained fighting of modern warfare. These original recommendations were largely ignored, and improvements were directed towards existing bolt action firearms, with "full size" semi-automatic rifles being developed and fielded across the army by 1917. Development of arms stayed focused on full sized rifles until in 1943 a weapon designer named Maurentius Lascaris demonstrated the P-41, a select-fire rifle capable of firing fully automatic, that was chambered for full size rifle cartridges, and capable of holding a 10 round box magazine. The P-41 greatly impressed the General staff and work on the further development of the weapon was ordered immediately.

Work would continue on the P-41 and its derivatives, when the Great Kesh War broke out in 1949 the then named P-49 was tested against various arms acquired by forces on both sides of the war. It was found that the P-49 was largely uncontrollable when firing in the fully automatic setting, it was also found that soldiers could not carry enough ammunition to sustain fire superiority over many of the other weapons fielded abroad. The C-49, a carbine variant of the P-49 was capable of sustaining rates of fire it was deemed to have inferior leathality compared to the other weapons being fielded.

As a result the General staff issued a directive for the development of an intermediate cartridge rifle, with the requirements to penetrate a standard Imperial army helmet at 500 yards (460 meters) and retain a velocity in excess of the speed of sound, while matching or exceeding the wounding ability of the .30 cartridge. In 1956, a recently retired logistics officer, Katakalon Nikephoros began work on the first prototype for what would become the KN-70

Concept
Katakalon Nikephoros, was a fourth generator gunsmith of the prestigious Nikephoros family. He had assisted in designing rifles with his father and grandfather and his family company had already received contracts from the Imperial government for various firearms for decades. Nikephoros left the company and served as an Infantry and then after sustaining a leg injury in a training accident as a logistics officer in the Imperial army for thirteen years before returning to the company in 1955. Nikephoros was all too familiar with the shortcomings of the P-49, as well as being acutely aware of the logistical issues the army faced in fielding a variety of weapons, many of which did not share the same caliber ammunition, the parts needed to maintain each.

Nikephoros set out to design a weapon that was reliable, lightweight made using the latest manufacturing techniques and materials, cost effective, and could be easily modified to adapt to the current battlefield needs filling multiple battlefield roles, all while using the same caliber ammunition. Nikephoros began looking at the P-49, and had other weapons from around the world brought to the Nikephoros Fabricatorum and began studying the weapons with Nikephoros later stating "I had no need to reinvent the wheel." Decided to take the best of current technologies and apply them towards his new weapon.

Design
The KN-70 is a gas-operated, 6.8×43mm assault rifle and Modular weapon system that can be configured as a rifle, a carbine, a top-fed or belt-fed light machine gun, designated marksman rifle or a vehicle mounted weapon. The KN-70's receivers are made of aluminum alloy, its barrel, bolt, and bolt carrier of steel, with phosphate finished and black baked enamel coating, its handguards, pistol grip, and buttstock consist of black polycarbonate with lightening holes. This makes the KN-70 extremely lightweight with the standard rifle variant weighing 3.59 kg or 7.91 lbs with a loaded 30-round magazine. This made the KN-70 significantly lighter than the P-49 which weighed 4.9 kg or 10.7 lbs when loaded with a 20-round magazine.

Range and Accuracy
The KN-70, and its derivatives are regarded as being highly accurate weapons. Its light recoil, high-velocity and flat trajectory allow shooters to accurately engage targets at up to 300 meters. With advanced optics accuracy can be increased up to 600 meters, with a single shot hit probability of 98% at 400 meters. The KN-70 is capable of shooting 1–3 inch groups at 100 yards.

Terminal Ballistics
Use of the 6.8mm cartridge gives the KN-70 an advantage over other cartridges such as the 5.56 and 7.62. In the case of the 7.62 the 6.8mm allows soldiers to carry more ammunition and makes the rifle easier to control when firing in burst or fully automatic firing modes. The 6.8mm with its higher muzzle velocity can also produce massive wounding effects when the bullet impacts at high speed and yaws ("tumbles") in tissue leading to fragmentation and rapid transfer of energy.

The KN-70 with the 6.8mm cartridge is capable of piercing eight 3/4" pine boards at 100 meters, one side of a concrete building block at 200 meters, both sides of a steel helmet at 300 meters, and one side at 500 meters, 2 layers of 1.9mm steel plating at 100 meters, and 31 layers of Kevlar at 100 meters.

The typical 6.8mm round fired from a KN-70 at 100 meters when fired from a 20" or shorter barrel travels fast enough (above 2900 ft/s) that the force of striking a human body causes the round to tumble and fragment into about a dozen pieces of various sizes. This stopping power makes the KN-70 well suited for the close range encounters typical of urban or jungle fighting. Critics have stated the wounding patterns are so severe relative to the cartridges size that they are inhumane, others have noted that the 6.8mm cartridge suffers at greater distances. The latter criticism has largely been dismissed after numerous studies showed typical engagement ranges, even on the tropical savanna grasslands were occurring at less than 300 meters.

Variants

 * KN-70 A standard assault rifle fed from below by a 30-round box magazine, newer models have the ability to use different capacity magazines although 30 rounds remains the standard issue. The Rifle fires from closed bolt. The rifle has the option to be fitted with a lightweight bipod that folded beneath the hand guard. Newer models, such as the KN-70X5 are fitted with rails allowing to be fitted with various attachments depending on mission needs.

The KN-70C, or KN-70 Carbine is the carbine variant of the KN-70 with a shorter barrel and a folding shoulder stock. The KN-70C has a three-round burst firing mode, while the and a fully automatic firing mode. The most recent model, the KN-70CA has a rail on the upper receiver, allowing the carry handle/rear sight assembly to be replaced with other sighting devices.
 * KN-70C

The KN-70LG fires from an open bolt and is fed from the right-hand side by linked ammunition contained in a 30 or 40 detachable box magazine, or a 200-round pan magazine. The receiver is identical to the Rifle variants, but is inverted, so that spent cases and links are ejected to the left. The LMG has a quick-change barrel and the gas cylinder is positioned below the barrel since the receiver is inverted, the KN-70LG also comes with a separate adapter than can be used to attach the weapon to a tripod or bipod.
 * KN-70LG


 * KN-70R Similar to the standard rifle variant, and is semi-automatic gas-operated. The key difference between the KN-70R and the standard rifle is that the KN-70R is chambered for 7.62×51mm cartridges, carried in a 20-round magazine box magazine. The KN-70R standard model features a telescopic sight, and newer models feature rails for allowing for a variety of military scopes and imaging devices to be equipped. The KN-70R can also be fitted with a bipod placed beneath the hand guard.