"Balanced" machine gun on SVO
Information on the use of specific domestic types of small arms in the SVO zone weapons appeared earlier. But not so long ago a new photo of the A-545 machine gun with balanced automation appeared, which made us remember this interesting model.
That same photo of the A-545 "Kord" that stirred up the information field and made people talk again about the successor to the AEK-971.
If the A-545 index doesn’t mean anything to you, then perhaps the name AEK-971 is familiar to you. The assault rifle in question is the heir to the ideas and engineering solutions laid down in this product by Kovrov gunsmiths back in the days of the USSR. In general, in open sources the A-545, to simplify a bit, is often called a “modernized AEK-971”. Is this true and what is the general story of this weapon?
Soldiers of the special forces of the Russian Interior Ministry in the Caucasus, 2000s. One of them is armed with an AEK-971.
The assault rifle presented for the R&D competition "Ratnik" was very different in appearance from its ancestor. The weapons engineers did a great job to improve the ergonomics and operational characteristics of the weapon. In the photo above is the AEK-971, below is the A-545.
The history of the AEK-971 began when the R&D project "Abakan" was launched by the decision of the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on military-industrial issues No. 280 of 27.08.81. The idea was to increase the accuracy of the machine gun, and the accuracy of automatic fire and when firing from awkward positions: standing, kneeling, etc. As we now know, the AEK-971 did not become a winner. Moreover, it did not even make it to the final of the "competition".
The "guts" of the A-545, the same balanced automation. Yes, it is more complex than a regular AK, but simpler than the AN-94.
And then what happened happened. The winner of the Abakan R&D project, the AN-94 Abakan, received the GRAU index, went into production... and that's it. It was produced a little, fought a little, but did not win any love in the troops and did not go beyond the framework of "few, expensive, complicated." In order to achieve those same characteristics of accuracy when conducting automatic fire, everything else was, in fact, sacrificed. Anyone who has seen a partial disassembly of this machine gun can understand what I'm talking about. It is not just complicated in comparison with the Kalashnikov system, but very complicated. Here we can also add ergonomic features, such as the magazine, which is attached not vertically downwards, but with a deviation to the right. Well, that is, a person accustomed to reloading an AK will not even be able to immediately attach the magazine to the AN-94. Add to this the more than impressive weight (the loaded machine gun is more than half a kilogram heavier than the loaded AK-74) and it becomes really sad.
A-545 of a special forces soldier in a PVD in the SVO zone. According to the "operator" himself, the Picatinny rail for installing the bipod and handle had to be attached to the fore-end with screws, the standard one is missing in this place, and there is simply no commercial fore-end for this system.
What about the AEK-97? What is it and how is the accuracy of automatic fire increased? A balance beam, identical in weight to the bolt group, is added to the automatic unit. The bolt carrier and balance beam are connected via toothed racks and a gear inside the bolt carrier. The pistons of the carrier and balance beam act as the front and rear walls of the gas chamber. At the moment of firing, under the influence of powder gases, they begin to move simultaneously in opposite directions at equal speeds, and their movement impulses compensate each other.
A-545 in the special forces air defense zone.
It doesn't sound very complicated, and in reality, it was. Although the system didn't give the same results as the AN-94, it turned out to be simpler and lighter. It's no surprise that the security agencies paid attention to the machine gun. Its small-scale production and purchase by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation began. In the hands of fighters from various units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the machine gun fought in both Chechen wars.
A-545 lies at the feet of its "operator" in the SVO zone
Well, the story of our hero begins in the 2010s with the R&D project "Ratnik". Moreover, according to the initial requirements, two assault rifles were to be developed for 5,45x39 mm and 7,62x39 mm cartridges. This is how the A-545 and A-762 appeared in Kovrov. It is more than clear which model was created for which cartridge. The Kovrov engineers reworked their design, which was already thirty years old at that time. The principle of recoil compensation did not change, but the external appearance of the assault rifle, according to the R&D requirements, changed very much. If you place the AEK-97 and the A-545 side by side, you may not realize at first that this is, in fact, the same weapon. Sights, forend, receiver cover, Picatinny rails and, probably, the biggest visual difference is the folding telescopic buttstock, which we associate more with the products of Heckler & Koch GmbH.
A special forces soldier in a Ghillie suit observes the enemy. An A-545 stands against the wall behind him.
And then this is what happens: the Kovrov assault rifles pass the tests in 2014 and are recommended for adoption, while the Izhevsk assault rifles are recognized as not meeting the tactical and technical requirements. True, in 2015 everything changed, the AK-12 and AK-15 became winners, while the A-545 and A-762 lost the competition. What happened? Somewhere they write that the results of the tests in 2014 became a bucket of cold water on the heads of the effective managers of Kalashnikov Concern OJSC, and they came to their senses, somewhere they write that they did not come to their senses, but turned on their administrative resources to the fullest, but be that as it may, the Kovrov assault rifle with balanced automation was again left overboard. But not quite...
A-545 in the SVO zone
As before, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the creation of the designers of the Degtyarev Plant was noticed. It was obvious that this was not a machine gun for a mass conscription army, but its characteristics could be useful to special forces specialists. In 2018, the machine gun with balanced automation A-545 under the designation GRAU 6P67 and the name "Kord" was accepted into service by the RF Armed Forces. In 2019, information appeared that the machine gun would be supplied to the Special Operations Forces and army special forces units, and in 2020 from News it was possible to find out that the weapon had already entered service with the special forces units of the Eastern Military District.
A-545 of a special forces soldier in the SVO zone.
Photos of the A-545 from the SVO zone have appeared before. But the latest photo allows us to understand that the product of the gunsmiths from Kovrov continues to fight successfully in the hands of special forces. There are practically no reviews of this weapon from the SVO zone. This is the specificity of those who fight with these machine guns, and their work itself. It is only known that special forces with the A-545 look with some envy at their colleagues with Kalashnikov machine guns, since they do not have access to such a large number of commercial tuning for their "tool". Manufacturers of commercial "body kits" are simply not familiar with such a highly specialized and rare system as the A-545. But still, this is clearly a trifle against the background of the other advantages of the machine gun.
Be that as it may, it is pleasant to see that such a unique and original system as the Kovrov A-545 has tasks in the SVO zone and that there are specialists who are able to appreciate all the advantages of this wonderful and unique weapon.
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