VHS assault rifle

The VHS (Višenamjenska Hrvatska Strojnica—"multifunctional Croatian machine gun") is a 5.56x45mm NATO bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by HS Produkt of Croatia. The VHS rifle was first introduced at the 2007 iKA exhibition, the annual Croatian innovation display that takes place in the city of Karlovac. The development was carried on following a request from the Croatian Army for a new infantry rifle to update the individual equipment to NATO standards.

A new and improved version of the VHS rifle, known as the VHS-2, was introduced in April 2013.

Development
The development of the new assault rifle began in 1992, during the Croatian War of Independence, when HS Produkt (then called IM Metal) created a bullpup variant of the 7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle. This rifle had a number of flaws, partly caused by limited technological capabilities of IM Metal, but provided a valuable learning experience for the company. A delayed blowback model was tested in the mid-1990s, but the results were still not satisfactory, and it was superseded by a design similar to the M16 rifle. More prototypes followed in 1996, 1999 and 2004.

The development cycle that ultimately led to the current version of the rifle started circa 2003. A new prototype, externally quite similar to the French FAMAS, was publicly announced in 2005 and presented to the Croatian Minister of Defense Berislav Rončević. However, the difference between the production model that followed and the 2004 prototype is more than 90%.

Evaluation and adoption
On November 19, 2007, the Croatian Ministry of Defence placed an order for an experimental batch of 50 rifles to be tested by the Croatian contingent than deployed in Afghanistan within the ISAF. Other nations, including Kuwait and Venezuela have shown interest in acquiring the rifle.

On November 24, 2008 HS Produkt introduced the final version of VHS assault rifle. The first 40 rifles have been produced for testing. after initial testing phase order for 1000 rifles was made. In 2009 additional batch for 2000 rifles was made to enter service with Croatian Army and by the end of 2012, and as of 2013 Croatian army had 3600 VHS rifles in service, with final batch of 2000 rifles to be delivered to Croatian military by end 2014. Croatian Army requirement calls for 17000 brand new assault rifles, but with introduction of VHS-2 rifle, it is highly likely Croatian Army will transfer its full order on to that rifle. A long term Croatian Army requirement calls for 50 000 Assault Rifles, ensuring a long term production of VHS-2 rifles even if no export orders are ever made, although US Department of Defense already made an order for 500 VHS-2 rifles, with future orders highly likely.

On May 12, 2009, the Croatian Minister of Defence Branko Vukelić confirmed the positive conclusions of a series of torture tests and on May 15 officially signed a contract with HS product for the acquisition of 1,000 rifles (both variants) for an average price of 10,700 Croatian kunas (c. €1450) each. Provisional budget for 2011 envisage the acquisition of 3000 rifles.

Design
The VHS-D rifle is 765 mm long, with a 500 mm barrel. the whole rifle body is a monoblock construction made from high-impact polymer. Externally, it strongly resembles the French FAMAS rifle, but both its functioning mechanism and disassembling mode are quite different.

The VHS-K is a carbine variant with a shorter, 410-mm barrel, resulting in overall length of 665 mm.

The early project won the iKA innovation prize for their interesting feature,

Some characteristics of the rifle are still not revealed to the public and so some misconceptions occurred through the development period: there was word about a sort of recoil buffer in the form of a venting system that recovered part of the gases generated by the shot and pushed it back in a space located behind the bolt; during the cycle, the bolt would thus "bounce" on a sort of "gas cushion" that acted as a buffer, dramatically reducing recoil. That provoked more than a disappointment as the production-stage VHS was reported to operate in a much conventional manner no longer utilizing these buffering system. According to the project deposited at the European Patent Office however it seems that such voices originated from a misconception of related data, i.e. merging in one two different features: a forced air ventilation system similar to the one in Pecheneg machine gun and a mechanical buffer reductor, similar in conception but not identical to the one used in Ultimax 100, a weapon Croatia used in Croatian War of Independence and still has in its reserve inventory.

Same patent states also that Vehesica works neither through Direct gas impingement nor through a short or long stroke piston, but through a 'tappet' type of closed gas system much like the FN SCAR.

There it was also another precedent design sporting some of said features, but it was rejected after the first real testing, so it is also possible that the"gas cushion" was instead a feature of that former model.

Taking into account that said patent is from 2007, it is not certain how much the serial production rifles will differ from it, but nevertheless it shows that HS Produkt, which also developed and produced the best selling HS2000 pistol, has the ability to adapt and combine existing features in an innovative way.

Also the recent Croatian combat experience influenced the rifle project: VHS is probably the only modern assault rifle to have standard integral sights for using both a grenade launcher and rifle grenades.

VHS-2
A new assault rifle known as the VHS-2 was shown to the public for the first time in April 2013, during the Adriatic Sea Defense & Aerospace (ASDA) exhibition in Split, Croatia. The new weapon is an improved version of the VHS rifle which retains its bullpup design, caliber and barrel length, as well as the internal mechanism, but introduces a new, more conventional fire selector, a redesigned carrying handle, an adjustable-length buttstock, and an ambidextrous cartridge casings ejection system that can be configured for either right or left side ejection in less than a minute.