My Russian friend and military photographer extraordinaire Vitaly V. Kuzmin sent us high resolution photos of the new Tula ADS Underwater rifle. It is quite an elegant design when viewed up close (rather than low resolution mainstream press images). The 40mm grenade launcher is built in and doubles as the handguard, adding almost no extra bulk to the rifle.

The optics rail double as a carry handle and features an integral rudimentary rear sight. The rail is not very long and would not be able to accommodate certain types of night vision optics. The sight rail appears to be hinged. I am not sure why this is. Anyone have any ideas?

The grenade sight is built in to the left of the foresight. The gas regulator appears to be adjustable.

The flash hider (or muzzle brake) has an interesting v-shaped cutout design.

Both of the triggers (rifle and grenade) are located inside the same trigger guard. Both triggers have blocking safeties that must be switched before the trigger can be depressed.

What do you think of the design?