Special forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation operating in Ukraine have received a batch of the latest army sniper rifles Chukavin (microwave) for experimental combat operation. This was reported on September 14 by RIA Novosti with reference to a source in the military-industrial complex.
"Special Operations forces have been supplied with a batch of Chukavin sniper rifles for testing in combat conditions of a special military operation conducted in Ukraine. The first reviews of the new shooting complex were positive," the agency reports the source's words.
It is specified that the rifles were transferred to the special forces for the domestic sniper cartridge 7.62 by 54 mm.
According to the agency, the Chukavin sniper rifle, developed by the Kalashnikov concern, is a new generation of rifles and should ensure the defeat of single targets with the first shot at a range of up to 1 km.
The semi—automatic rifle complex is designed for two cartridges - a domestic rifle cartridge of 7.62 by 54 mm and a NATO cartridge of 7.62 by 51 mm. The mass of the microwave without ammunition is 4.6 kg, the length, depending on the version, is up to 115 cm, the magazine capacity is 10 rounds.
To date, the main sniper rifle in the Russian army is the SVD adopted in the 60s, and a number of law enforcement agencies also use the T-5000 rifle ("Precision"). Other rifles are not purchased for mass use. The microwave will gradually replace the SVD in the troops, which was adopted almost 60 years ago — in 1963.
The microwave rifle is designed on the basis of the SVK-2016 rifle. It was first presented in 2017 at the military-technical forum "Army". The peculiarity of the rifle is that the butt, receiver and barrel are on the same line, which reduces the toss of the weapon. The Chukavin sniper rifle was developed taking into account the wishes of snipers of special units of the Armed Forces, the FSB and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation.
Prior to that, on August 3, TASS, citing a source in the law enforcement agencies, wrote that during a special operation to protect Donbass, Russian snipers use the latest TSVL-8 Stalingrad tactical rifle.
On July 22, it was reported that the latest Russian light drones from the Lastochka complex are being used in the area of the special operation in Ukraine. It was noted that during the fighting they inflicted a fire defeat on the manpower and destroyed several armored targets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
The day before, it became known that during the special operation to protect Donbass, the world's longest-range SVLK-14C "Twilight" rifle created in Russia was used for the first time. It was noted that the advantage of the "Twilight" is a combination of powerful cartridges, large caliber and high accuracy of shooting over long distances. At the same time, the rifle is quite heavy, and the cartridges for it are very expensive.