0 $
2,500 $
5,000 $
600 $
OCTOBER 2024

Russia Defense Report: AK-12 or AK-74M3?

Support SouthFront

DEAR FRIENDS. IF YOU LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT, SUPPORT SOUTHFRONT WORK:

PayPal: southfront@internet.ru

Donation alerts: https://donationalerts.com/r/southfront

Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/southfront

Or via: http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront,

BTC: 3Gbs4rjcVUtQd8p3CiFUCxPLZwRqurezRZ,

BCH ABC: qpf2cphc5dkuclkqur7lhj2yuqq9pk3hmukle77vhq,

ETH: 0x9f4cda013e354b8fc285bf4b9a60460cee7f7ea9

Written and produced by SF Team: J.Hawk, Daniel Deiss, Edwin Watson

Mikhail Kalashnikov’s masterpiece has been the Soviet and Russian military’s principal individual weapon for nearly seven decades, and it is a testimony to the brilliance of the design that it defies replacement and instead lends itself to further modification. The most important change to the original AK design took place in the 1970s with the adoption of the AK-74 which, instead of the original 7.62mm intermediate round, used a lighter 5.45mm high-velocity round which gave the weapon greater accuracy and improved lethality. The AK-74 in turn gave way to the 1990s-vintage AK-74M which introduced composites to the design giving it that characteristic “black rifle” look, and included a number of other improvements to improve its durability and facilitate the use of night-vision and aiming devices. Now the Russian military is facing a choice of whether to stick to the time-tested design or to adopt a new assault rifle that would replace the venerable AK.

The list of AK-74 challengers is a long one. The first proposed replacement was the Nikonov AN-94 Abakan whose remarkable two-round burst technology was unfortunately offset by the weapon’s complexity. More recently, the Ratnik individual soldier system (profiled in an earlier edition of Russia Defense Report) prompted the Russian military to solicit proposals for the AK-74 follow-on. Two rifles were entered, the AEK-971 whose balanced-action design virtually eliminated recoil, and the Kalashnikov Concern’s AK-12, which was designed by Vladimir Zlobin. After a prolonged series of trials, the Russian Ministry of Defense made a decision in February 2015 in favor of Kalashnikov’s AK-12.

The AK-12 combines its predecessor’s best qualities with improved accuracy and ergonomics. Its design allows the operator to perform key operations, like releasing the magazine or manipulating the safety and selector switch, with one hand and without the need to take the finger off the trigger. AK-12 is also better suited to accept a variety of attachments, such as sighting devices, laser designators, forward hand grips, night vision devices, and the associated mounts such as the Picatinny Rail which has become a world standard and without which no modern rifle can do without. In addition to the standard AK-74 and RPK magazines, the AK-12 can use the newly designed 60-round and 90-round magazines.

Does that mean the Izhmash plant will soon be churning out millions of AK-12 rifles to replace the AK-74-series weapons currently in service? It does not appear likely. Part of it has to do with Russia’s ongoing budget pinch which has forced revisions to a number of other defense procurement plans. But the bigger reason is that the AK-12 just does not offer enough of an advantage to warrant such a dramatic rearmament. Russia is not unique in that respect. The US military has held several major competitions to identify a successor to the M16 and M4 weapons, and yet these rather flawed rifles will continue in service for decades to come because the potential replacements’ performance advantage is insufficient to warrant the cost.

The May 2016 decision to equip the newly formed National Guard with AK-74M rifles is one of the indicators that the Russian leadership is instead opting in favor of continued modifications of existing rifles with the designation of AK-74M3. Several hundred of these rifles, referred to at the time as AK-74M Obves [add-on], were seen already during the Victory Parade in May 2015. The AK-74M3 introduces a new butt-stock design, a new hand-grip, and changes to the receiver cover to facilitate the use of Picatinny rails, in addition to other improvements. The AK-12, on the other hand, will most likely be purchased in relatively small numbers for use by specialized and elite units, much as the US and other NATO countries issue more advanced and expensive designs to its elite forces while retaining older weapons in service. As is usually the case, the question of the relative importance of the AK-74M3 and the AK-12 to the Russian military will likely be shown by their presence or absence at this year’s and future Victory Parades.

Support SouthFront

SouthFront

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
8 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Zuzana Rehakova

high-velocity round which gave the weapon greater accuracy and improved lethality of ak74? not in real combat. a bs.

Catfish

It does have a flatter trajectory when compared to 7.62x39mm which makes proper range estimation less important. As far as higher lethality i’d disagree as well. At closer ranges lethality is almost even because of hydrostatic shock as long as you aren’t shooting at a target taking cover. At longer ranges or shooting through enemy cover it isn’t as lethal. In open areas 5.45 is more useful but for wooded or urban areas i’d still prefer the 7.62 for its better penetration.

sepheronx

Just to mention yet again, which I did prior on this site, Budget cuts has not hit SAP2020 program. All procurement fall under SAP2020 and Putin himself stated that there is no cuts in procurement but a 5% cut in various other areas in the defense spending: http://russia-insider.com/en/putin-vows-defense-cut-wont-affect-procurement/ri13332

And those very knowledgeable in the Kalashnikov plant and its doings, state that there will be a release of very important info about new design or adjustments to show in the next coming months. ZID plant was recently modernized with newer equipment and other such stuff for production purposes and even at that, production capacity is currently full so unless they split the production with the KBP plant, there isn’t any way they will make 50,000 a year.

southfront

The video covers the case of AK-12 rifles. The modernization of the Russian Armed Forces amid the ongoing economical problems is a topic for a separate analysis. Short comments are not enough to depict the strategic implications of the trend.

Ole C G Olesen

THE KALASHNIKOV was a direct COPY of the GERMAN STURMGEWEHR and was DEVELOPED .. not by KALASHNIKOV but by GERMAN WEAPON ENGINEERS CAPTURED at End of WW 2 and FORCED to WORK in and for the SOVJET UNION. So I have been told by a RELIABLE .. NON GERMAN WEAPONS ENGINEER .. who personallu has NO Interest in WHO in Fact created the Weapon

Mike from Ramsbottom

Thank you, Ole. The Wiki article on the Sturmgewehr StG 44 (said to be the first ‘assault rifle) is enlightening as to reasons for design of both rifles and rounds. I didn’t know about the increased aerodynamic efficiency of ‘boat-tailed’ rounds before. I try, even at my age, to learn something new every day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StG_44

fairplay

much more progressive than the mentioned german machine gun. and not direct copy.

Ole C G Olesen

I just relate what I have been told by a professional Gunsmith and Weapons Engineer .

8
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x