TMP-32 with attached sight.
TMP 32 Combat Sidearm
Weight: 0.7 kg unloaded
Length: 190 mm
Barrel Length: 120 mm
Caliber: .45 Marshite Caseless (11.43×30mm)
Feed System: 9, 12, 15 round magazines
Action: Gas-operated
Rate of Fire: Semi-automatic, Burst.
Muzzle Velocity: 680 m/s
Muzzle Energy: 2,100J
Effective Range: 85m
Safety: Ambidextrous frame mounted, grip and firing pin
Sights: V-notch, with picatinny rails for additional fittings
Background
The L45 and LY46 pistols proved to be more than capable weapons, but both had flaws. The L45 was indeed a quality weapon, but the increasing prevalence of quality body armor even in panic and ambush scenarios where pistols found common deployment meant that it was often an ineffective weapon. Troops stated to leave the L45 behind- between the weapon and the ammunition, it was seen as a poor choice. This was not the same as the LY46, which entered with a great deal of fanfare. It was a high lethality design at first that fired a large bullet.
However, it was not great at dealing with body armor. The sheer impact indeed rendered lower quality body armors in rags, but high-quality body armor ably deflected the round. Low ammunition totals and high cost limited its introduction, and Marshite forces started to rely on older TMP pistols. Standard, boring, but effective and most importantly near infinitely cheap, the supply line for Militia forces was choked with three competing ammunition types.
Luckily, Marshite development of the LY48 allowed a world of opportunities to open up. The developer of the TMP line, Marshite Industrial Arsaka, proposed a new TMP combat pistol that would be lightweight, deadly, easy to use, durable, armor piercing, and cheap. With the LY48 chosen as the PDW of the Theocracy post-development, the TMP project was accepted and developed alongside.
Construction and Recoil Attentuation
Marshite experiences in helping to create the LY48 were parlayed into the dual development of the TMP 32. The blend of heavy and light construction is no longer unusual and manufacturing costs have fallen across the board as a result, with lightweight desires in order to make a weapon mobile and heavyweight concerns to minimize recoil competing with one another.
The TMP 32's combined bolt-carrier and slide assembly are made of tungsten, both for heat tolerance during firing and also for added weight to the working parts, tungsten being considerably heavier than steel. The pistol, where feasible, uses fibreglass reinforced polyamide, with a variety of finishes available, depending on the preference of the individual, unit or purchaser. The weapon's barrel is cold hammer forged steel, as are the minimum parts required to operate the firing mechanisms and gas system. Anything that can be made out of synthetic materials, without compromising the weapon's reliability and performance, has indeed been made thus. The advances in reinforced polyamide and synthetic materials has seen a rapid decrease in weight over the years, the TMP being significantly lightweight considering the supreme ability to handle recoil it has.
The TMP 32's barrel is fitted with a muzzle brake and recoil compensator, which vents propellant gases sideways and up, which counteracts the conventional tendency for a weapon's muzzle to rise when fired. The unusually heavy tungsten bolt-carrier/slide takes much of the felt recoil with it as it moves rearwards, and the heavy duty recoil springs at the rear of the bolt-carrier's movement path takes the edge off the contact/impact with the back of the weapon. This has helped make it a sturdy firearm as well, operating in all conditions with great durability.
Operation
Gas-actuation was selected to allow for the TMP-32 to utilize far more potent cartridges than are normally featured in semi-automatic pistols. However, the use of direct-impingement was frowned upon, and was quickly scrapped in favor of a more conventional (in rifle terms at least) short-stroke system.
The same holds true for the TMP. The reduced size and cartridge size allowed for a smaller size of the operating system against competitors such as the LY46 and LY48. The fire selector switch has three positions: B-R-S. Pushing it to the near position “B” position provides a three-round burst. Pushing it to the forward position "R" (Marshite terminology for "rapid-action"), provides semi-automatic fire. Pushing the mechanism fully forward to "S" will activate the safety. This is patterned after the trigger mechanism of the MIK Duran.
Ammunition
The TMP series of pistols have always used the .45 Marshite, for three generations the standard Marshite sidearm and submachinegun round. With the success of the LY46 it was believed that future pistols would all be caseless, a trend which was confirmed as development on the LY48 began. As the TMP project was approved with the LY48 being used exclusively as a PDW in Marshite service, it was decided that this trend would not be opposed.
The .45 Marshite was retained globally, with the new round being dubbed the .45 Marshite Caseless telescoping armor penetrating round or .45 MCTAP. The logic behind this decision is simple: caseless telescoping ammunition is the type of ammunition for which the most propellant can be provided for a given length and width. Of further consideration is the fact that the MCTAP cartridge is not cylindrical in cross-section, but, like the 4.7 x 33mm ammunition of the G11, is square, allowing more propellant to be packed into the cartridge's area. The caseless ammunition is used, rather than cased, to lower the weight of the charge, while allowing more of the space to be used to pack in further propellant. This same reason motivates the selection of telescoping ammunition, which provides for explosive charge packed further forward, around the point of the round.
The development of the LY48 led the way in terms of ammunition development for the TMP. The DM11,VBR and the CPS Black Tip ammunition designs that were considered superior design metrics to follow for the LY48 were also the same for the TMP, each one being high energy and the DM11 in particular being very effective against body armor. The VBR round is a 2-part controlled fragmenting projectile that is claimed to increase the content of the permanent wound cavity and double the chance to hit a vital organ. The Black Tip provides a great deal of muzzle energy, giving the 4.6mm round the same muzzle energy of a 9x19 round. The final round for the TMP takes all of these strengths and combines them, whole square along the length, is a pointed, tungsten-core, brass-jacketed bullet. This makes the LCTAP a high-capability armor penetrating round with high energy and a two-stage fragmentation system that increases the wounding potential once the armor is penetrated, and is far more lethal as it has an easier time shredding vital organs.
The combination of bullet design and the great amount of propellant involved has helped give the ammunition a far flatter trajectory than other .45 rounds. Indeed, one of the greatest flaws of the .45 has always been its significant drop due to lower pressure. Thanks to the propellant and design of the bullet, the .45 MCTAP has superior range to the LY48 in a pistol configuration and is considerably more deadly than it, though it is not as pure shock-power powerful as the LY46.
Sights
Integral standard pistol sights are fitted, but dorsal and ventral picatinny rails are fitted to allow compatibility with most international standard weapon sights. It does not feature the computerization necessary for BALCOTH connectivity.
Testing against the L45, LY48, and LY46
Two hundred TMP 32 prototypes were developed and deployed to the MIA 113th Testing Battalion alongside similar numbers of the L45 Tactical Sidearm, LY48 Defender Sidearm-PDW, and LY46 Hellhammer sidearm. The two week test was overseen by the 513th Analysis and Decision Comittee of th 113th Testing, reporting to the General of Light Arms Development, Samantha Raychild. For the purposes of testing the LY48 to an additional extent, the LY49 would be tested alongside the others in the additional PDW format.
Lethality, wounding, and combat performance testing took place first and took up the majority of the testing. Armor penetration was the first test conducted, as the ability to penetrate armor was considered more important than the wounding it could cause. After all- no penetration, one relies on impact force and that was a less reliable method of murdering heathens. In this regard, the L45 performed poorly against the body armors Marshites faced most commonly. The LY46 followed behind, being graded simply average. The LY48 was next and was graded Great, capable of reliably penetrating armor. The TMP 32 beat the competition with a reliable, high degree of armor penetration.
Impact force was next. The L45 again trailed the others by a great degree. The LY48 was next and put forward considerable impact force. The real battle was between the LY46 and the TMP 32. The LY46 would win out, a heavier bullet hitting with more joules of energy. However, the TMP 32 did not trail far behind. The bullet construction allowed the smaller bullet to nearly match the impact of the LY46, both pistols scoring perfect and near perfect ballistic results in this regard.
Wounding and lethality were next. The L45 trailed once more, followed by a shocker- the LY46. While it was an undeniably lethal weapon system and a fifty caliber caseless round is rightly feared, bullet design of the 10x30 auto and .45 Marshite caseless gave both munitions an edge. It should be noted that the advantages they shared are more of the wounding variety- the LY46 resulted in slightly more lethal rated deaths, but far fewer of the wounded were knocked out of combat. A survivable fifty shot is survivable. Both the LY48 and TMP 32's bullet construction allowed for terrible wounding that led to long term care. In the end, all three were rated nearly identical to one another, with different strengths and weaknesses.
Range and ammunition capacity, followed by rapid fire testing, followed. The L45 failed and was last in every category except ammunition capacity and range. At this point, it was decided to drop the L45 from further testing. The LY46 had inferior range and ammunition capacity to it's remaining competitors. The LY48 tied with the TMP in capacity in pistol configuration, while its PDW configuration being worked on just to get the kinks worked out. In testing, the distance between the LY46 and TMP grew into a gulf from which the LY46 could not recover. Of all pistols, the TMP had the best range and most consistent grouping. The difference between the LY46 and TMP in this regard was a tactically significant 25 meters. It had a far superior rate of fire and sustained shots downfield than the LY46, eventually putting six times as many shots down rage during the rapid fire testing due to the burst mode. The TMP put nearly twice as many rounds downrange than the LY48 due to the same cause, with the TMP having superior range as well. The LY48 in PDW configuration had vastly superior range and rate of fire.
Ease of use, weight, size, logistics, and cost were considered then, and all factors favored the TMP 32. Most important was cost. A brand new LY46 Hellhammer cost the Theocracy $1,200 to produce. The LY48, $2,200. The L45 was around because it cost the Theocracy less than $80. The lack of computerization and excess features, smaller size meaning fewer parts and construction elements, and the vast production lines expected, all drove costs down. The final cost for a first run TMP is thus around $600, much better suited for wide deployment.
Samantha Raychild reviewed the testing and delivered the expected resulted, issuing her Chief of Staff's ruling two months after testing began. The TMP was to be adopted as the Marshite standard service pistol. The crushing lethality and ability to penetrate armor combined to make it a lethal- and if not lethal, definite battle-ending- sidearm the likes of which the Theocracy had yet to see. The ease of use, cost, and lightweight nature of it were all notable benefits, but the fantastic amount of ammunition it could put into a small space at great range were even better. While no substitute for a true PDW, as a combat pistol, Raychild could think of nothing better.
Export
The TMP-32 Combat Sidearm is available through Covenant Arms at a cost of $225.
DPRs available at $225 million.
