Refusal of Kalashnikov assault rifles - stupid speculation, said Minister of Defense
Recently, the press has been actively discussing the termination of purchases of AK-74 for the armed forces of the Russian Federation. There were even suggestions about the possible removal of the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle from the armament of the army. However, in an interview made for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov called all these conversations “stupid” and explained that the rejection of large contracts for the purchase of a Kalashnikov assault rifle does not mean that it will not be used in the future.He also noted the fact that at the moment we need fundamentally new design solutions for small arms arms. New automata will be purchased only after analyzing and comparing new models with Kalashnikov submachine guns already in service. According to one of the models being developed, which the media called the “one-armed machine gun”, the General Staff already suspected that it would retain all the existing shortcomings of the Kalashnikov machine gun.
The first reports that the Ministry of Defense stops purchasing Kalashnikov assault rifles appeared in late September. They were confirmed by the Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov, who explained that this decision was made due to the fact that a large number of AK-74 had accumulated in the warehouses. He mentioned that several armies can be equipped with available automatic weapons at the moment, so there is no point in buying new lots. First you need to deal with those that already exist.
According to RIA "News", Plans to equip the army with new-generation machine guns However, at the moment it is not clear which model will come to replace the AK-74. At the Izhmash plant, before the competition for the development of the AK replacement announced by the Ministry of Defense, the development of a new model began, with the working title AK-12.
One of the main advantages of AK-12, according to the designers, will be the ability to perform all the necessary actions for shooting with one hand. However, in the military departments there were concerns about the accuracy of the new model. According to one of the high-ranking representatives of the General Staff, the drawings that they were shown do not contain any fundamental differences from the models of the old sample. The same venting tube will be used, the piston will remain unchanged - all this means that the return will remain unchanged in the new model and the machine gun will start to “drive” on the sides after the first shot fired.At the moment, AK-12 has not been shown anywhere. There is only a message from the chief designer of the automaton Vladimir Zlobin, in which he mentions the preservation of the brand, recognizable type - the same curved horn, gas outlet and piston remain. However, in general, the model will receive a new format and more ammunition, it will increase to 60 cartridges. He noted that the reliability and reliability of the new model will remain at the same level as before. And despite the fact that the vapor mechanism will remain, in general, automation will work much softer.
Representatives of the Russian defense industry have reported many new products among the weapons being developed, which are not only not inferior to foreign analogues, but sometimes even surpass them. The Independent Military Review published information about some of them. The most interesting is the ADS machine with a caliber of 12.7 mm, which allows shooting both on land and under water. Information about the new ASH-12 12.7 mm caliber with a subsonic bullet was also announced. However, the adoption of these new products is hampered by the fact that at the moment all the warehouses are packed with Kalashnikovs.
Manufacturers have mentioned that now the Ministry of Defense is buying new items in single copies. The general designer of the state unitary enterprise “KBP” Viktor Zelenko in an interview for “Moskovsky Komsomolets” said that the new ADS was tested and accepted for service four years ago, but it is being purchased in meager quantities, two pieces a year.
The designer said that at the moment new weapons are being purchased only by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, and they are also being exported to Algeria, Syria, the Emirates, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Canada and other countries. The quality of the weapon suits everyone, and orders are being repeated, but in Russia there is simply no money for it, Zelenko said.
He also called talk that purchases of new weapons are hampered by warehouses piled up with old “Kalashnikovs”, “utter nonsense”. According to him, if you follow this logic, then the Mosin rifle should still be in service, because it also has enough of it.
In the "Moskovsky Komsomol" there appeared the words of the representative of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, which says that at the moment Russian gunsmiths have to follow the high requirements set by the Ministry of Defense. However, they do not receive any guarantees that the new weapons will be procured for the army in the future.
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