shappy0869
Member
I don't know if this is old news or not, but I thought I would post it for those who might be interested.
Two New Russian Assault Rifles Vie To Unseat AK-47
Feb 7, 2007
By Maxim Pyadushkin/DTI
Although the legendary family of Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles continues to enjoy brisk sales, Russian manufacturers are ready with a new generation of infantry weapons that offers better accuracy than the classic Kalashnikov design.
Unlike their Western counterparts, the two new Russian rifles don't rely on modern electronic devices to improve firing accuracy; their performance is improved through new internal mechanism designs. However, Russian defense budget constraints make it uncertain whether one or both of the new designs will ever enter production to provide a long-sought AK-47 replacement.
The Kalashnikov 7.62-mm. AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947) assault rifle, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1947, has served as the primary individual weapon for Soviet and then Russian infantrymen since 1949. More than 100 million AK-47s are estimated to be in circulation worldwide. Despite the rifle's reliability and simplicity in use and maintenance, the Soviet military actually was never happy with a key shortcoming: poor accuracy when shooting in unstable positions. This is a result of the AK's design--its heavy internal mechanical parts move rapidly during firing, producing heavy blowback that disrupts the shooter's aim. The military made its first serious attempt to find a better alternative in the 1970s, but ultimately again chose the classic Kalashnikov design adapted to fire smaller 5.45-mm. ammunition in the form of the AK-74.
The military viewed this as a temporary decision until a better solution could be found, but undertook no new initiative until the Abakan project to acquire a new individual infantry weapon in the early 1990s. The defense ministry selected an unusual design offered by Gennady Nikonov of Izhmash, which builds the AK-47 and is Russia's largest small-arms producer today. The new weapon entered service in 1994 as the AN (Avtomat Nikonova) -94 assault rifle. It featured a novel approach to increase firing accuracy--delayed blowback impulse--that allowed a soldier to shoot two rounds without experiencing recoil. To minimize recoil impulses, the receiver assembly of the rifle moves backward as firing starts but doesn't reach the far end of its path until after the second shot, when the shooter begins to feel the blowback. This principle allows a shooter to send the first two bullets practically to the same point at a firing rate of 1,800 rounds per minute. After the first two shots, the AN-94's firing rate decreases to 600 rounds per minute as its mechanism starts to function like a classic Kalashnikov system.
Initially, the Russian military planned to completely replace its Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles with AN-94s. However, during field tests (as well as use in counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya), Nikonov's rifle proved to be complicated for Russian army conscripts to use and maintain. Izhmash's Alexander Baditza told Defense Technology International that plans now call for AN-94s to complement traditional AK-47/AK-74 rifles in the army by serving as a weapon for better-trained elite units and special task troops, and that his company is producing the Nikonov rifle in small batches. In addition, he says Izhmash has begun export deliveries of the AN-94, which are made through Rosoboronexport, the country's major arms-trading agency, but concedes that its export prospects are limited because the rifle is designed to fire only Russian 5.45-mm. ammunition.
Rosoboronexport's Alexander Uzhanov was more optimistic. He says the arms-trading agency already has a portfolio of AN-94 orders from former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe and sees growing interest in the rifle in North America and other markets.
In the meantime, Russian designers are working on two new infantry weapons that could finally provide an AK-47 replacement: Izhmash's AK-107 and the AEK-971 developed jointly by Kovrovsky Mekhanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) and Degtyarev Plant in the town of Kovrov.
Details about Izhmash's new AK-107 assault rifle are closely guarded. A description of the new rifle was removed from the manufacturer's web site, and scant official information about its progress has been released. Baditza, citing security reasons, refuses to comment on the AK-107 program. However, he did confirm that the program is still underway.
The 5.45-mm. AK-107, as well as its AK-108 version adapted to fire 5.56-mm. NATO ammunition, features a mechanism that uses so-called balanced automatics, as does the AEK-971. Alexey Isakov, head of KMZ's Special Design Bureau, explains that, during automatic fire, a rifle of the classic AK-47 design has four impulses that shake the weapon and disrupt its aim: the recoil from the bullet; the forward impulse from the gas piston as it moves backward; blowback generated when the receiver assembly reaches the far end of its path, and the momentum of the receiver moving forward. Balanced automatics minimizes the impulses from the rifle's internal moving parts by using two gas pistons that move in opposite directions during firing. As a result, a shooter feels only the recoil generated by the bullet as it moves along the barrel.
Isakov says KMZ developed the first AEK-971 prototype in the early 1970s as a replacement for the 7.62-mm. AK-47. The company's designers initially wanted to modernize the AK-47's design. But they soon realized that they couldn't double the assault rifle's accuracy as desired by the military while staying within that classic design scheme. So they implemented the balanced automatics principle in the new rifle. Unfortunately for KMZ, the Soviet military conservatively chose the Kalashnikov 5.45-mm. AK-74, which offered decreased blowback due to its smaller caliber and, as a result, slightly better accuracy.
Yet the AEK-971 program resumed in the 1990s with the backing of then-Defense Minister Igor Rodionov. At comparative test firings sponsored by Rodionov, the AEK-971 faced both the AK-74 and the AN-94. Each rifle fired a standard 30-round magazine in automatic mode from a standing position into a 1 X 1-meter target at a distance of 100 meters. According to Isakov, the AK-74 hit the target only once and the AN-94 twice, while the AEK-971 scored 18 hits.
Since the restart of the AEK-971 program, KMZ has refined the rifle's parameters, decreasing its length and weight. The initial version of the weapon is designed to fire 5.45-mm. ammunition, but KMZ also developed modified versions for 7.62-mm. and 5.56-mm. NATO ammunition. The three versions share 80% design commonality. Compared with the AK-74, Isakov says, the AEK-971 has a more sophisticated design with more internal details but nevertheless is just as easy to maintain and can tolerate harsh operating conditions. The designers even made its partial disassembly routine, identical to that of the AK-47.
However, the AEK-971 has yet to be adopted by the Russian armed forces, a step that would facilitate both domestic procurement and export sales of the rifle. KMZ conducted preliminary tests of all three versions in 2006, Isakov says, and expects to start government acceptance tests in the near future. Various Russian military services already have purchased the AEK-971 in small numbers for evaluation.
But KMZ apparently sees a limited market for its new rifle. Early last year, the company decided to focus on producing equipment for the atomic energy industry, and subsequently began transferring its defense programs to the neighboring Degtyarev Plant, which already manufactures heavy-machine guns and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. During the Soviet era, both companies made up a single defense facility in Kovrov but, after they were split up, cooperated closely on several defense programs.
It's still not clear whether the Degtyarev Plant will continue the AEK-971 program. This weapon and its competitor--Izhmash's AK-107--currently both have an uncertain future. The manufacturers have to risk investing to complete their designs while having no orders until the rifles pass acceptance tests by the Russian military. Potential export sales also await a military decision, because Russian law prohibits the manufacturers from selling their defense products to foreign customers independently, and Rosoboronexport won't add the rifles to its sales catalog until they are accepted by the military.
The Russian army does not appear to be in a hurry to choose a replacement for its AK-74 assault rifles, despite the need for it demonstrated in counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus. Unlike in the previous decade, the Russian military budget has begun to grow at a rapid pace during the past five years. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov keeps repeating that the nation's armed forces need to be reequipped with modern weapons to deal with today's security challenges. However, infantry weapons are evidently not near the top of his priorities list.
Two New Russian Assault Rifles Vie To Unseat AK-47
Feb 7, 2007
By Maxim Pyadushkin/DTI
Although the legendary family of Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles continues to enjoy brisk sales, Russian manufacturers are ready with a new generation of infantry weapons that offers better accuracy than the classic Kalashnikov design.
Unlike their Western counterparts, the two new Russian rifles don't rely on modern electronic devices to improve firing accuracy; their performance is improved through new internal mechanism designs. However, Russian defense budget constraints make it uncertain whether one or both of the new designs will ever enter production to provide a long-sought AK-47 replacement.
The Kalashnikov 7.62-mm. AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947) assault rifle, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1947, has served as the primary individual weapon for Soviet and then Russian infantrymen since 1949. More than 100 million AK-47s are estimated to be in circulation worldwide. Despite the rifle's reliability and simplicity in use and maintenance, the Soviet military actually was never happy with a key shortcoming: poor accuracy when shooting in unstable positions. This is a result of the AK's design--its heavy internal mechanical parts move rapidly during firing, producing heavy blowback that disrupts the shooter's aim. The military made its first serious attempt to find a better alternative in the 1970s, but ultimately again chose the classic Kalashnikov design adapted to fire smaller 5.45-mm. ammunition in the form of the AK-74.
The military viewed this as a temporary decision until a better solution could be found, but undertook no new initiative until the Abakan project to acquire a new individual infantry weapon in the early 1990s. The defense ministry selected an unusual design offered by Gennady Nikonov of Izhmash, which builds the AK-47 and is Russia's largest small-arms producer today. The new weapon entered service in 1994 as the AN (Avtomat Nikonova) -94 assault rifle. It featured a novel approach to increase firing accuracy--delayed blowback impulse--that allowed a soldier to shoot two rounds without experiencing recoil. To minimize recoil impulses, the receiver assembly of the rifle moves backward as firing starts but doesn't reach the far end of its path until after the second shot, when the shooter begins to feel the blowback. This principle allows a shooter to send the first two bullets practically to the same point at a firing rate of 1,800 rounds per minute. After the first two shots, the AN-94's firing rate decreases to 600 rounds per minute as its mechanism starts to function like a classic Kalashnikov system.
Initially, the Russian military planned to completely replace its Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles with AN-94s. However, during field tests (as well as use in counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya), Nikonov's rifle proved to be complicated for Russian army conscripts to use and maintain. Izhmash's Alexander Baditza told Defense Technology International that plans now call for AN-94s to complement traditional AK-47/AK-74 rifles in the army by serving as a weapon for better-trained elite units and special task troops, and that his company is producing the Nikonov rifle in small batches. In addition, he says Izhmash has begun export deliveries of the AN-94, which are made through Rosoboronexport, the country's major arms-trading agency, but concedes that its export prospects are limited because the rifle is designed to fire only Russian 5.45-mm. ammunition.
Rosoboronexport's Alexander Uzhanov was more optimistic. He says the arms-trading agency already has a portfolio of AN-94 orders from former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe and sees growing interest in the rifle in North America and other markets.
In the meantime, Russian designers are working on two new infantry weapons that could finally provide an AK-47 replacement: Izhmash's AK-107 and the AEK-971 developed jointly by Kovrovsky Mekhanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ) and Degtyarev Plant in the town of Kovrov.
Details about Izhmash's new AK-107 assault rifle are closely guarded. A description of the new rifle was removed from the manufacturer's web site, and scant official information about its progress has been released. Baditza, citing security reasons, refuses to comment on the AK-107 program. However, he did confirm that the program is still underway.
The 5.45-mm. AK-107, as well as its AK-108 version adapted to fire 5.56-mm. NATO ammunition, features a mechanism that uses so-called balanced automatics, as does the AEK-971. Alexey Isakov, head of KMZ's Special Design Bureau, explains that, during automatic fire, a rifle of the classic AK-47 design has four impulses that shake the weapon and disrupt its aim: the recoil from the bullet; the forward impulse from the gas piston as it moves backward; blowback generated when the receiver assembly reaches the far end of its path, and the momentum of the receiver moving forward. Balanced automatics minimizes the impulses from the rifle's internal moving parts by using two gas pistons that move in opposite directions during firing. As a result, a shooter feels only the recoil generated by the bullet as it moves along the barrel.
Isakov says KMZ developed the first AEK-971 prototype in the early 1970s as a replacement for the 7.62-mm. AK-47. The company's designers initially wanted to modernize the AK-47's design. But they soon realized that they couldn't double the assault rifle's accuracy as desired by the military while staying within that classic design scheme. So they implemented the balanced automatics principle in the new rifle. Unfortunately for KMZ, the Soviet military conservatively chose the Kalashnikov 5.45-mm. AK-74, which offered decreased blowback due to its smaller caliber and, as a result, slightly better accuracy.
Yet the AEK-971 program resumed in the 1990s with the backing of then-Defense Minister Igor Rodionov. At comparative test firings sponsored by Rodionov, the AEK-971 faced both the AK-74 and the AN-94. Each rifle fired a standard 30-round magazine in automatic mode from a standing position into a 1 X 1-meter target at a distance of 100 meters. According to Isakov, the AK-74 hit the target only once and the AN-94 twice, while the AEK-971 scored 18 hits.
Since the restart of the AEK-971 program, KMZ has refined the rifle's parameters, decreasing its length and weight. The initial version of the weapon is designed to fire 5.45-mm. ammunition, but KMZ also developed modified versions for 7.62-mm. and 5.56-mm. NATO ammunition. The three versions share 80% design commonality. Compared with the AK-74, Isakov says, the AEK-971 has a more sophisticated design with more internal details but nevertheless is just as easy to maintain and can tolerate harsh operating conditions. The designers even made its partial disassembly routine, identical to that of the AK-47.
However, the AEK-971 has yet to be adopted by the Russian armed forces, a step that would facilitate both domestic procurement and export sales of the rifle. KMZ conducted preliminary tests of all three versions in 2006, Isakov says, and expects to start government acceptance tests in the near future. Various Russian military services already have purchased the AEK-971 in small numbers for evaluation.
But KMZ apparently sees a limited market for its new rifle. Early last year, the company decided to focus on producing equipment for the atomic energy industry, and subsequently began transferring its defense programs to the neighboring Degtyarev Plant, which already manufactures heavy-machine guns and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. During the Soviet era, both companies made up a single defense facility in Kovrov but, after they were split up, cooperated closely on several defense programs.
It's still not clear whether the Degtyarev Plant will continue the AEK-971 program. This weapon and its competitor--Izhmash's AK-107--currently both have an uncertain future. The manufacturers have to risk investing to complete their designs while having no orders until the rifles pass acceptance tests by the Russian military. Potential export sales also await a military decision, because Russian law prohibits the manufacturers from selling their defense products to foreign customers independently, and Rosoboronexport won't add the rifles to its sales catalog until they are accepted by the military.
The Russian army does not appear to be in a hurry to choose a replacement for its AK-74 assault rifles, despite the need for it demonstrated in counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus. Unlike in the previous decade, the Russian military budget has begun to grow at a rapid pace during the past five years. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov keeps repeating that the nation's armed forces need to be reequipped with modern weapons to deal with today's security challenges. However, infantry weapons are evidently not near the top of his priorities list.
