During the exercises of the CSTO special forces, which are taking place in Tajikistan, the scouts of the Russian 201st military base for the first time used modern AK-12 submachine guns to solve tactical tasks.
"A batch of such submachine guns came to replace the previously armed reconnaissance units of the 201st military base AK-74 in September of this year. Previously, the servicemen used the new machine gun only during fire training classes, performing control shooting exercises outside the tactical situation," the press service of the Central Military District said.
Three years ago, the AK-12 was adopted by the Ground Forces, Marines and airborne units. The weight of the machine gun is 3.5 kg, the caliber is 5.45 mm, the range of a direct shot is 440 meters, the rate of fire of the weapon is 650 rounds per minute. The machine gun allows you to fire in three modes: single shots, automatic fire, a queue with a cutoff of two shots. Collimator, optical and night sights can be installed on it.
Compared to previous versions of the machine gun, the AK-12 has increased ergonomics and accuracy of firing when firing bursts. The survivability reserve of the barrel has also increased, for the production of which a new technology is used.
Recall that at the end of August this year, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation signed contracts with the Kalashnikov Group of companies for the supply of new assault rifles to the Armed Forces within the framework of the Army-2021 forum. "State contracts have been signed for the manufacture and supply of 5.45 caliber Kalashnikov AK-12 assault rifles," the ministry said at the time.
The AK-12 assault rifle was first widely talked about five years ago, when the Ministry of Defense chose weapons for use in the "Warrior" combat equipment. Then the main competitor of the new Kalashnikov assault rifle was the modernized AEK-971 of the plant. Degtyarev. After much hesitation, the customers settled on the Izhevsk AK-12 caliber 5.45 mm. Among its advantages, experts call a redesigned trigger mechanism that allows you to recharge the machine with one hand without twitching the shutter when changing the magazine.
When Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov (now he is Deputy Prime Minister) he said that the priority of the AK-12 mainly consists in its price characteristics - the new product of the Kalashnikov concern will cost the department only a quarter more expensive than regular Kalashnikov assault rifles. And the AK-12 is positioned as a new platform, on the basis of which it is planned to produce weapons of different calibers and for various purposes.
Yuri Gavrilov
