The PKP Pecheneg machine gun is undoubtedly one of the most inconspicuous types of small weaponswhich is currently used in the Syrian Civil War. It is estimated that only about a hundred Pechenegs were ordered in Syria in 2013. But so far there are no photos or videos from the Syrian battlefields, testifying to the use of this machine gun by the government forces. A small number of purchased PKP and the fact that Pecheneg was adopted by the secret special forces, whose operations are still carefully concealed, contributed to its "elusiveness".
The list of weapons, ammunition and equipment that the Supply Bureau of the High Command requested from the Russian Rosoboronexport at the beginning of 2013 of the year included one hundred PC machine guns with a bipod, which almost definitely indicated not PKM, but PCP. Subsequently, the Pechenegs were put together with almost five million 7,62x54 mm cartridges that can be fired from the control panel and from the PKM.
Along with the AK-104 carbine, the self-loading carbine VPO-205-03 (Vepr-12) and many other weapons PKP Pechenegs were also allegedly inspected by the Syrian military delegation that visited the weapon exhibition in 2012 in Russia, after which a large number of small arms were purchased, optimized for a changing battle environment as we have seen in Syria over the past four years.
The PC-series machine guns remain extremely popular around the world and the numerous factions involved in the Syrian civil war are no exception. In addition to its traditional use as a universal machine gun, you can see other options for its use, for example, as coaxial machine guns on tanks, Infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and even as weapons installed in the doors of helicopters.
By design, it very much resembles its older brother PKM, yet when creating Pechenega, the experience of Afghanistan and Chechnya was taken into account. The control panel has been made chambered for 7,62x54 mm, it can carry out long-term fire with 600 firing speed per minute without overheating and, thus, without damaging the barrel. In Syria, the PKP machine guns were delivered in the 6P41H Pecheneg-N variant, where "H" means that they come with a special dovetail guide for night sights.
The continuous flow of both offensive and defensive armaments of Russian production, which is entering Syria on a regular basis, will undoubtedly lead to new discoveries of even more advanced weapons and equipment that have never been seen in this country in the past.
Materials used:
www.spioenkop.blogspot.ru
www.ru.wikipedia.org