Izhmash officially introduced the new AK-12 assault rifle
It so happened that the general public, including foreign, first learned about the Kalashnikov only a few years after its creation and adoption. However, this did not prevent the AK from becoming, perhaps, the most widespread and popular weapons of the world. But the next “descendant” of the legendary machine gun managed to become famous not only before the start of mass production, but even before the appearance of the prototype. Will the new AK-12 be able to compare with its “grandfather” in combat and quantitative terms? It’s too early to talk about this. But about the wide popularity of the project and the disputes surrounding it, conclusions can already be drawn - most likely, the public’s reaction was caused by the fact that Izhmash tried to publish data on the work to the best of its ability. In addition, public interest was spurred by last year’s scandalous the news on the cessation of military purchases of the AK-74M.
And now, just the other day, another news appeared “from the life of AK-12”. It became known that the new machine has been in the factory for several weeks - test firing in difficult climatic conditions is now in full swing. The reliability of the design of the weapon is checked when working in heavy rain, in conditions of heavy dusting, low and high temperatures, etc. This means that if any serious flaws do not appear that require serious improvements, by the end of this year AK-12 will go for state certification. After that, the pilot batch will be sent to the special units of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which these departments will draw their conclusions on the subject of mass purchases of new weapons and the replacement of old ones. But such terms can be observed only in the absence of problems with the design, and there is no absolute certainty in this yet. The fact is that AK-12, unlike previous Kalashnikov models, has more than a dozen major changes and innovations in its design. Earlier, when creating a new machine, they cost less of them, and even then, most of the improvements accounted for the technological moments of production. As a result, AK-12 is more susceptible to various "childhood diseases" that are common to all new types of equipment and weapons.
Nevertheless, the representatives of "Izhmash" do not speak about the problems and modifications that emerged from the tests, if such were made. They, as is customary in arms circles, are treated with general phrases like: “tests are underway, their completion is planned then and then and then, and the machine itself has such and such advantages over direct competitors”. As a competitor (one might say, this is already a long tradition), the American M16 automatic rifle of later modifications is called. Comparisons with other foreign automata such as FN SCAR (HAMR), Heckler Koch G36, SIG SG550 or Beretta ARX-160 are not done for some reason. The reasons for such silence can only guess. The most plausible and plausible explanation is the prevalence of M16 family rifles - in their number they exceed all the types listed above. Probably, there is logic in comparing AK-12, planned for a truly large-scale production, and M16, more than eight million copies of which have already been distributed to military units and warehouses of many countries.
While the AK-12 has not yet completed the tests, consider its differences from the previous Kalashnikovs. Much of the design changes are visible without disassembling the machine. So, the receiver cover is now longer and stiffer. In addition, its front part is mounted on a hinge, thereby improving the overall rigidity of the structure. Also on the lid is mounted Picatinny rail, on which you can install additional sighting equipment. The new design of the receiver cover provides greater stability of the sight mounted on the bar compared to the old one. Another innovation relates to the shutter handle. On the AK-12 it is attached to the gas piston rod, which made it possible to remove the gap between the lid and the receiver - as conceived by the designers, the absence of a gap significantly makes it difficult for dirt to get inside the machine. Also, the shutter handle can be installed on both sides of the machine, optionally the shooter. The absence of a gap on the old "Kalashnikovs" hiding behind a translator of fire, allowed to change the design of the latter. Now his flag is displayed on both sides of the receiver and is located above the pistol grip, which allows you to move it with your thumb. The fire interpreter is still at the same time fulfilling the functions of a fuse, but now it has four positions instead of three: a fuse, single shooting, shooting with a cut-off of three shots and fire in bursts. The progress of the translator is relatively short, which may cause certain difficulties for the shooter, who is used to the “classic” AK flag, until he gets used to the new design. The AK-12 has become the first submachine gun of the family, which has a slide lag, so now the reloading of the weapon will take much less time. Also, it should be noted, the new translator-fuse and slide delay will allow, if necessary, to replace the store and other operations to continue firing with one hand. Even before the demonstration of the prototype AK-12, designers in their interviews repeatedly called it “one-armed” and focused on improving the ergonomics of the new machine gun.
Otherwise, there are no changes, or they are insignificant and have a technological and “cosmetic” character. The gas engine with a long stroke and locking the barrel by turning the bolt remained the same as before. Minor improvements underwent trunk. Firstly, the pitch and shape of its rifling were changed, and secondly, the length of the muzzle brake-compensator was increased and adjusted. Modernization of the compensator allows using rifle grenades of NATO standards with AK-12. Significantly modified the "body kit" machine. The butt is still folded sideways to the left, but its structure has been changed - instead of a monolithic or frame structure, it is made adjustable in length and has a telescopic structure. In its appearance, the new butt resembles the butt of the FN SCAR rifle, which has already been repeatedly tested by practice. Handguard AK-12 can be manufactured in two versions. One involves placing a Picatinny rail on the underside of the forearm, the other — standard domestic mounts for the GP-25, GP-30 or GP-34 grenade launchers. For ammunition of the new machine can be used all available weapons stores lines AK and PKK, calculated under the corresponding cartridge. Also, new four-row stores have been created and are being tested, which, with the same length and width as the existing ones, contain twice as much ammunition - 60 cartridges. However, the fate of such stores still does not look very clear, because the military may have its own considerations regarding the weights of weapons with an attached store.
Recently it became known that the Ministry of Defense this year has no plans to purchase any Izhmash products. From this we can conclude that the mass production of AK-12 will not start in 2012 year. On the other hand, even by December of this year, we should expect, as a maximum, the start of production of a pilot batch for trial operation in special units. But their plans for 2013 have not been published yet by the Ministry of Defense. Perhaps the first serial AK-12 will go to the army in the next year. And the export prospects of the new Izhevsk machine look quite good. Weapons of the AK family have been popular with the military all over the world for several decades now, and the new machine has several innovations designed to bring its appearance closer to modern requirements for assault rifle class weapons.
And now, just the other day, another news appeared “from the life of AK-12”. It became known that the new machine has been in the factory for several weeks - test firing in difficult climatic conditions is now in full swing. The reliability of the design of the weapon is checked when working in heavy rain, in conditions of heavy dusting, low and high temperatures, etc. This means that if any serious flaws do not appear that require serious improvements, by the end of this year AK-12 will go for state certification. After that, the pilot batch will be sent to the special units of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which these departments will draw their conclusions on the subject of mass purchases of new weapons and the replacement of old ones. But such terms can be observed only in the absence of problems with the design, and there is no absolute certainty in this yet. The fact is that AK-12, unlike previous Kalashnikov models, has more than a dozen major changes and innovations in its design. Earlier, when creating a new machine, they cost less of them, and even then, most of the improvements accounted for the technological moments of production. As a result, AK-12 is more susceptible to various "childhood diseases" that are common to all new types of equipment and weapons.
Nevertheless, the representatives of "Izhmash" do not speak about the problems and modifications that emerged from the tests, if such were made. They, as is customary in arms circles, are treated with general phrases like: “tests are underway, their completion is planned then and then and then, and the machine itself has such and such advantages over direct competitors”. As a competitor (one might say, this is already a long tradition), the American M16 automatic rifle of later modifications is called. Comparisons with other foreign automata such as FN SCAR (HAMR), Heckler Koch G36, SIG SG550 or Beretta ARX-160 are not done for some reason. The reasons for such silence can only guess. The most plausible and plausible explanation is the prevalence of M16 family rifles - in their number they exceed all the types listed above. Probably, there is logic in comparing AK-12, planned for a truly large-scale production, and M16, more than eight million copies of which have already been distributed to military units and warehouses of many countries.
While the AK-12 has not yet completed the tests, consider its differences from the previous Kalashnikovs. Much of the design changes are visible without disassembling the machine. So, the receiver cover is now longer and stiffer. In addition, its front part is mounted on a hinge, thereby improving the overall rigidity of the structure. Also on the lid is mounted Picatinny rail, on which you can install additional sighting equipment. The new design of the receiver cover provides greater stability of the sight mounted on the bar compared to the old one. Another innovation relates to the shutter handle. On the AK-12 it is attached to the gas piston rod, which made it possible to remove the gap between the lid and the receiver - as conceived by the designers, the absence of a gap significantly makes it difficult for dirt to get inside the machine. Also, the shutter handle can be installed on both sides of the machine, optionally the shooter. The absence of a gap on the old "Kalashnikovs" hiding behind a translator of fire, allowed to change the design of the latter. Now his flag is displayed on both sides of the receiver and is located above the pistol grip, which allows you to move it with your thumb. The fire interpreter is still at the same time fulfilling the functions of a fuse, but now it has four positions instead of three: a fuse, single shooting, shooting with a cut-off of three shots and fire in bursts. The progress of the translator is relatively short, which may cause certain difficulties for the shooter, who is used to the “classic” AK flag, until he gets used to the new design. The AK-12 has become the first submachine gun of the family, which has a slide lag, so now the reloading of the weapon will take much less time. Also, it should be noted, the new translator-fuse and slide delay will allow, if necessary, to replace the store and other operations to continue firing with one hand. Even before the demonstration of the prototype AK-12, designers in their interviews repeatedly called it “one-armed” and focused on improving the ergonomics of the new machine gun.
Otherwise, there are no changes, or they are insignificant and have a technological and “cosmetic” character. The gas engine with a long stroke and locking the barrel by turning the bolt remained the same as before. Minor improvements underwent trunk. Firstly, the pitch and shape of its rifling were changed, and secondly, the length of the muzzle brake-compensator was increased and adjusted. Modernization of the compensator allows using rifle grenades of NATO standards with AK-12. Significantly modified the "body kit" machine. The butt is still folded sideways to the left, but its structure has been changed - instead of a monolithic or frame structure, it is made adjustable in length and has a telescopic structure. In its appearance, the new butt resembles the butt of the FN SCAR rifle, which has already been repeatedly tested by practice. Handguard AK-12 can be manufactured in two versions. One involves placing a Picatinny rail on the underside of the forearm, the other — standard domestic mounts for the GP-25, GP-30 or GP-34 grenade launchers. For ammunition of the new machine can be used all available weapons stores lines AK and PKK, calculated under the corresponding cartridge. Also, new four-row stores have been created and are being tested, which, with the same length and width as the existing ones, contain twice as much ammunition - 60 cartridges. However, the fate of such stores still does not look very clear, because the military may have its own considerations regarding the weights of weapons with an attached store.
Recently it became known that the Ministry of Defense this year has no plans to purchase any Izhmash products. From this we can conclude that the mass production of AK-12 will not start in 2012 year. On the other hand, even by December of this year, we should expect, as a maximum, the start of production of a pilot batch for trial operation in special units. But their plans for 2013 have not been published yet by the Ministry of Defense. Perhaps the first serial AK-12 will go to the army in the next year. And the export prospects of the new Izhevsk machine look quite good. Weapons of the AK family have been popular with the military all over the world for several decades now, and the new machine has several innovations designed to bring its appearance closer to modern requirements for assault rifle class weapons.
Information