The Kalashnikov Group, the Russian gun-making big greatest identified for its Soviet-era AK-47 assault rifle, has unveiled upgrades to its AK-12 assault rifle to higher swimsuit Russia in its conflict on Ukraine, in line with Russian state media. Picture courtesy of Kalashnikov Group
Could 27 (UPI) — The Kalashnikov Group, the Russian gun-making big greatest identified for its Soviet-era AK-47 assault rifle, has unveiled upgrades to its AK-12 assault rifle to higher swimsuit Russia in its conflict on Ukraine, in line with Russian state media.
Kalashnikov Group chief designer Sergey Urzhumtsev informed Russia’s state media company TASS on Saturday that the design of the AK-12 assault rifle was thought-about based mostly on suggestions and strategies from Russia’s troops in Ukraine.
“The primary AK-12s arrived for the troops in 2019. Over the interval of their operation, sure suggestions and strategies had been obtained, which the group promptly launched,” Urzhumtsev mentioned.
“The enter pool was [gathered] following the outcomes of the expertise of the gun’s use within the particular operation.”
Kalashnikov Group CEO Vladimir Lepin informed TASS that the primary shipments of the weapons have already reached the entrance strains to obtain additional suggestions to switch the design.
In keeping with the gunmaker’s web site, the weapon takes 5.45 caliber bullets in 30-round magazines, has a barrel size of 41.5 centimeters and weighs about 8 kilos.
“This mannequin is the head of AK system growth, totally different from the earlier generations by its elaborate ergonomics, all-day usability and elevated accuracy and precision,” the web site reads.
“Since 2018, Russian navy has been present process reequipment with AK-12 rifles.”
Travis Pike, a U.S. Marine veteran who typically writes about weapons, has referred to the AK-12 as “Russia’s reply to the M4,” the weapon utilized by the U.S. navy, in a weblog posted by the corporate Sandboxx.
“The AK-12 represents the Russian navy entrance into the realm of the fashionable carbine. Consider the AK-12 as a modernized variant of the AK-74 rifle,” Pike wrote.
“It’s extremely a lot a contemporary variant of the traditional AK collection, whereas adopting a number of the modularity of the M4 to push the previous design ahead.”
Pike added that, at its core, the AK-12 is “nonetheless simply one other AK collection rifle” which is “nice for Russian forces” as a result of the coaching could be an identical to what they already obtain.
In his overview of the weapon, Pike mentioned that the AK-12 comes with choices for semi-automatic firing, full auto and a two-round burst possibility.
Kalashnikov, in line with TASS, has reportedly eliminated the two-round burst characteristic in its newest replace of the weapon “as a result of this design didn’t improve the weapon’s effectivity considerably and solely sophisticated its format.”