TRANSFER OF AUSTRIAN GUN-BARREL FORGING TECHNOLOGY TO THE USSR

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05508656
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: March 15, 2016
• Case Number: F-2016-01012
• Publication Date: March 1, 1982

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Directorate of
Intelligence
Transfer of Austrian
Gun-Barrel Forging
Technology to the USSR
An Intelligence Memorandum
March 1982
Co� 325
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Warning Notice
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Information
Intelligence Sources
and Methods Involved
Unauthorized Disclosure
Subject to Criminal Sanctions
Dissemination Control
�
Abbreviations
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controlled by originator
REL...
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Directorate of
Intelligence
Transfer of Austrian
Gun-Barrel Forging
Technology to the USSR
An Intelligence Memorandum
Information available as of 15 February 1982
has been used in the preparation of this report.
This memorandum was prepared by
Office of Soviet Analysis, with
a contribution from
Comments and queries are
welcome and may be addressed to
SOVA
This memorandum was coordinated with the Office of
Scientific and Weapons Research
eerer
SOV 82-10046X
March 1981
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Summary
Transfer Transfer of Austrian
Gun-Barrel Forging
Technology to the USSR
The Soviets are using state-of-the-art rotary-forge technology and equip-
ment imported from Austria to produce gun barrels for a wide variety of
weapons. The USSR has bought at least 26 automated rotary forges for
making gun barrels since the late 1960s from GFM,' an Austrian firm that
specializes in the manufacture of automated metalworking equipment. The
Soviets use the same model of GFM equipment to produce gun barrels for
the T-72 tank as the United States does for the M-1.
The legal acquisition of this Western technology and equipment through a
non-COCOM source has enabled the Soviets to sharply upgrade their
weapon production capabilities.2 The process associated with the new
equipment reduces manufacturing time, improves the quality of the
product, and requires less metal, energy, and manpower. The new equip-
ment alone has the potential to manufacture considerably more gun barrels
than we estimate are required for ongoing weapon production programs. If
older, indigenous production equipment also remains in use, the Soviets
now have the ability to rapidly expand their production of gun barrels for
all classes of weapons.
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' Gesellschaft fuer Fertigungstechnik und Maschinenbau A.G.
Rotary forges designed for gun-barrel production are on the Munitions Control List and
cannot be exported by COCOM member countries to Communist nations
iii
"-S"etriat,.
so V 82-10046X
March 1982
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Figure 1
Rotary-Forging a Gun Barrel
The GFM forging method is a metal-forming process in which an
oversize blank is hammered into shape over a mandrel. Most
blanks for small and medium gun barrels (those for assault rifles
and antiaircraft guns, for example) are forged in a cold state.
Barrel blanks for artillery and other large gun barrels are
preheated in an induction furnace and then hot-forged.
Barrel blank
A mandrel of the desired internal barrel diameter is inserted into
the barrel blank and then both are guided into the forging box.
The mandrel can have the rifling relief on it, thereby eliminating
a subsequent step in the process.
Forging hammers
Side view
Four hammers, each having the force of hundreds or even
thousands of tons (depending on the size of the barrel) are
positioned in a circle around the barrel. Forging takes place as
the hammers pound the rotating workpiece up to 1,000 times
a minute.
Forging hammers
Front view
Finished barrel
- �
After two to 10 minutes of pounding, depending on whether the
blank is cold- or hot-forged, the desired barrel size and shape are
obtained. Finished barrels are from one-third to three times longer
than the blanks and closely approximate the design length.
586304 3-82
"Seevel._
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Background
Transfer of Austrian
Gun-Barrel Forging
Technology to the USSR
Since the late 1960s the USSR has bought at least 26 automated rotary
forges for making gun barrels from GFM, an Austrian firm that specializes
in the manufacture of automated rotary forges and milling machines.
GFM has gained worldwide renown as a manufacturer of highly efficient,
hot- and cold-working rotary forges, which are used to produce gun barrels
as well as solid ingots and hollow tubes
The forges developed and manufactured by GFM have fundamentally
changed the method of forging gun barrels. In the past, gun-barrel blanks,
prepared either by casting or preforging, were shaped in a heated state
between dies driven by a steam hammer. The process was time consuming
because the barrel blank had to be annealed repeatedly and scale formed
during forging had to be removed. After forging, the barrel was straight-
ened, rifled, and machined in preparation for final assembly in the weapon.
GFM perfected a system for simultaneously shaping and rifling the hollow
gun-barrel blanks using a multiple-hammer rotary forging process (figure
1). This process, which can be used for barrels of weapons ranging in size
from small arms to heavy artillery, eliminates several steps in the
traditional manufacturing process, improves the precision and quality of
the forgings, reduces subsequent machining time, and requires less metal,
energy, and manpower. For example, a tank or artillery barrel can be
forged in 10 minutes or less, whereas the conventional process would
require four and one-half hours. The fatigue and mechanical properties of
the gun barrels produced by the rotary forge process, moreover, are
comparable to those of barrels produced by conventional forging methods.
The large GFM rotary forges can also be used to recycle wornout gun
tubes into smaller diameter barrels, thereby permitting substantial materi-
al and fabrication savings.
Soviet Acquisition In the 1960s the USSR and several other Communist countries bought
of GFM Forges, GFM forging machines capable of cold-forging small-caliber gun barrels
1967-74 as well as hot-forging medium- to large-bore artillery and cannon barrels.'
Only one of six acquired by the USSR is known to have been used for the
military sector, the remainder being used to shape tubes, pipe couplings,
'In this paper, small-bore refers to calibers 8 mm or less (for example, assault rifles);
medium-bore refers to calibers between 9 and 100 mm (for example, antiaircraft guns); and
large-bore refers to calibers above 100 mm (for example, tank guns).
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--SrefeL.
Soviet Purchases of GFM
Barrel-Forging Equipment
Order Delivery Model Number Comments
Date Date a
Unknown' 1967 SVK 412 1 Barrels up to 8 mm.
1969 1971 SVK 412 1 Barrels up to 8.iiitm.
1969 1971 SHK 10 9 Barrels up to 8.mm. Installed at Tula.
1971 1973 SXP 25 1 Barrels 21 to 75 mm.
1971 1974 SXP 55 1 Barrels up to 203 mm. Installed at
� Perm'.
Unknown 1975 SVK 412 1 Barrels up to 8 mm.
Unknown 1975 SXP 55 1 Elektrostal' Metallurgical Plant. Mili-
tary application possible.
Unknown 1977 SXP 55 1 Elektrostal' Metallurgical Plant.
(Forge still in crates as of November
1981.) Military application possible.
Unknown 1977/78 SHK 17 8 Barrels 20 to 40 mm.
Unknown 1978 SXP 16 1 Barrels 20 to 40 mm. (Experimental.)
--Sheefet.,
1980 1983 SXP 85
Barrels over 200 mm (est.). Conflicting
reports on exact configuration of this
machine.
and bar stock for civilian industry. After evaluating this equipment, the
Soviets undertook a major acquisition program. Known Soviet acquisitions
of GFM rotary forces for military applications are listed in the table.
In 1969 the Soviets placed their first major military order with GFM, for
three hot-forging machines (SVK 412) and 10 recently developed SHK 10
cold-forging machines for production of small-caliber gun barrels.4 When
the first cold-forging machine was finished, the Soviets had it tested at
GFM's headquarters in Steyr, Austria, in December 1970. After studying
the results of that test, they requested a design change in the machine that
would permit the forging of a 5.45-mm barrel with a tapered chamber.
This change was intended for
the new Soviet light machinegun, the RPK-74. The RPK-74, which is
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based on the AK-74 assault rifle, was put into full production by mid-
decade and issued as the standard Soviet infantry weapon.' After the
design changes were made, the new forges were shipped�along with
enough spare parts for 15 years of operation�to the Tula Armament and
R&D Plant, where they were installed by GFM fitters in a new shop. After
obtaining the initial order of small-bore rotary-forge equipment, the USSR
purchased a larger rotary forge (the SXP 25) for producing medium-bore
barrels for antiaircraft systems and cannons. This forge was delivered in
1973.
At the beginning of the 1970s, GFM was developing the huge SXP 55, the
only rotary forge then capable of producing massive solid ingots as well as
gun barrels greater than 200 mm in diameter (figure 2). Bohler Steel
Works of Kapfenberg, Austria, a civilian manufacturer of structural steel
products, had ordered the first SXP 55. When GFM had built this
machine, it invited potential customers to conduct tests on it prior to
delivery to Bohler. In December 1970, the Soviets prepared for the tests by
holding technical discussions with GFM engineers in the USSR
The experiments were conducted in Austria in October 1971.
Tests of the machine's capacity to forge both solid billets and hollow blanks
were watched by 200 observers from 40 companies around the world. After
the tests, the Soviets placed an order for what was to be the second SXP 55
produced.6
GFM shipped the Soviet SXP 55 in 1974. At roughly the same time, the
Soviets initiated work on a new forge building at the Perm' Armament
Works.
The introduction of the AK-74 and the RPK-74 and their characteristics are described in
"The Kalashnikov Assault Rifle: Three Decades of Improvement," USSR Monthly Review,
December 1981, pp. 25-27
6 The United States purchased the third GFM SXP 55 rotary forge. That machine is
currently installed at the Watervliet Arsenal, where it is used to produce the 105-mm
barrels for the M-60 and M-1 tanks, as well as other heavy artillery and large-diameter gun
barrels.
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Figure 2
SXP-55 Rotary Forge at Watervliet Arsenal, New York
--Stew&
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Soviet Attempts To In 1972 the Soviets reportedly tried to negotiate a GFM license to produce
Acquire Greater their own small-caliber rotary forges, but GVM refused. The USSR then
Access to GFM tried to induce GFM to build a plant in the USSR or Eastern Europe. Ac-
Technology cording to another report, the Soviets in 1974 even offered to build the fa-
cility for GFM, promising that GFM could continue to export its forges to
West European and US customers. GFM declined this offer too. At the
time of the last offer the Soviets claimed that they were planning to
produce all of their gun barrels using the GFM process.
Further Soviet The failure to gain some measure of control over GFM production
Purchases of GFM notwithstanding, Moscow continued to import substantial quantities of
Rotary Forges, GFM equipment. Between 1975 and 1980 the USSR became one of
1975-80 GFM's largest customers, buying more than $70 million worth of hollow-
tube forging machines as well as $50 million worth of equipment clearly
destined for the civil sector. The USSR expanded its small-bore gun-barrel
production capacity by purchasing an additional SVK 412 rotary forge in
1975. Between 1977 and 1978 the Soviets obtained eight SHK 17 rotary
forges for cold-forging 20- to 40-mm barrels, thereby doubling their
medium-bore gun-barrel forging capability.' The Soviets also purchased
two more SXP 55 forges. One, purchased in 1975, is installed at the
Elektrostal' Metallurgical Plant at Zaporozh'ye, where it produces special-
ity steel products.' The second was reported to be still in shipping crates as
late as November 1981.
Most recently, the Soviets have ordered an SXP 85, the largest rotary forge
ever developed by GFM, and delivery to the USSR is expected in 1983.
The SXP 85 is capable of producing barrels for the 203-mm gun and 240-
mm mortar, which the Soviets now have in the field.'
the Soviets wanted the SXP 85 for large-bore (greater than
200-mm) gun production and would use it in conjunction with the SXP 55
to first hot-forge and then cold-forge the same barrel blank. Although the
Perm' forging building is currently large enough to house both the SXP 55
and the SXP 85, new construction under way will expand its size by nearly
one-third.
This provides partial confirmation of the report
Ihat the Soviets are comtemplating a further
upgrading of their large-bore barrel-forging facility at Perm'.
The Soviets also purchased an SXP 16 rotary forge in 1978, but it appears to be used for
experimental purposes only.
'A recent news story on Soviet television showed the SXP 55 at Zaporozh'ye forging solid
ingots.
m There are conflicting reports on the use to which the Soviets will put the SXP 85.
ecently claimed that it has been designed to manufacture thin-walled tubes.
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--S-Erret,
Soviet Gun-Barrel If the Soviets operated all of the rotary forges that they purchased from
Needs and Production G FM for gun-barrel production at full capacity, they could forge the
Capacities following number of barrels annually:
Small bore
730,000
Medium bore
200,000
Large bore
14,000
These estimates are based on the Soviets' own specification in purchasing
Western machinery�Soviet equipment is used 4,000 hours per year
(roughly two eight-hour shifts per day, five days a week)�and on the
generally accepted rule of thumb that forges of this type can operate at 85
percent of capacity. The estimates take into account only the time required
in the actual barrel-forging operation and exclude other portions of the
process such as postforge heat treatment, barrel straightening, chrome-
plating, and finish machining. We know of no limitations or capacity
constraints in these stages of the production process that would necessarily
limit the Soviets' barrelmaking capability.
The barrel-producing capacity of these machines is substantially larger
than what we estimate the Soviets need for current production programs.
For example, we estimate that in 1980 the USSR required the following
numbers of new barrels for the weapons produced for all services:"
Small bore 335,00012
Medium bore 24,000
Large bore 3,500
These estimates exclude stockpiled barrels and exports. Moreover, for
certain types of weapons the number of replacement barrels produced may
be substantially higher than the production of the basic weapon (for
example, antiaircraft guns and Gatling-type cannons).
The large difference between current barrel production levels and capacity
may be explained by one or more of the following:
� The Soviets design weapons production facilities to meet wartime
production requirements and consequently have tended to acquire excess
peacetime capacity (when measured by Western standards).
" Most small-bore barrels are for assault rifles and machineguns, used predominantly by
the Soviet Ground Forces. The Navy and Air Forces, however, require nearly one-half of
the medium-bore barrels. Tank barrels alone account for 65 percent of all large-bore
barrels, the remainder being for artillery, mortars, and naval guns.
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� New medium-bore automatic guns and cannons are being deployed and
others are expected in the 1983-85 time frame." The large unexplained
capacity for producing medium-bore barrels may have been acquired to
manufacture these new gun systems and may signal a greater emphasis
on medium-bore guns and cannons in the near future.
� The calculated capacities are based on two shifts. Although the Soviets
specified a two-shift operation when they ordered the military forges, it is
possible that the equipment will be operated for only one shift. A one-
shift operation, however, would be atypical for a Soviet plant, especially
in heavy industry.
Even taking these factors into account, GFM forges have provided the
USSR with considerably more capacity than is needed to meet apparent
requirements. In addition, the now obsolescent indigenously produced
forges that existed prior to the acquisition of the GFM machines give the
Soviets even more capacity, thereby enabling them to increase the output
of gun barrels substantially and rapidly.
" For example, a new 30-mm cannon is being deployed on the latest version of the BMP in-
fantry fighting vehicle, and a new multibarrel gun (30 mm or greater) is expected on the fol-
low-on ZSU self-propelled air defense gun.
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