Military expert Nikulin: the increase in the main caliber of machine guns is due to the need for more ammunition capacityMilitary expert Yuri Nikulin, in an interview with Izvestia, commented on the information about the increase in the main caliber of Russian army submachine guns.
Earlier, this was announced on November 4 by the president of the Kalashnikov concern Alan Lushnikov.
As the expert recalled, initially the main caliber of the Kalashnikov assault rifle was 7.62 mm. Nikulin added that several decades later, already in the 1970s, the AK-47 was made for a 5.45 mm cartridge with a displaced center of gravity.
"Apparently, the fighting has shown, including in Ukraine, that this cartridge is not powerful enough, it does not penetrate modern bulletproof vests," Nikulin said.
According to the expert, this is connected with the need to increase the power of cartridges. The production time should be shortened. He expressed confidence that within a year, a maximum of two, the Russian army will switch to a new caliber.
Earlier on Friday, Lushnikov said that the developers of the equipment of a third-generation serviceman are working on the possibility of increasing the main caliber of army submachine guns, which is 5.45 mm. According to him, a shooting complex with a new caliber may appear during the development of military equipment "Legionnaire".
In the USSR, a low-pulse intermediate cartridge of 5.45 by 39 mm was developed and adopted in the early 1970s. The penetrating power of a 5.45 mm bullet no longer meets the modern requirements of individual protection of the military, experts noted.
On September 21, the concern reported on the completion of the AK-12 machine gun after being used in a special military operation to protect Donbass. It was clarified that the approved improved technical solutions are introduced into the design documentation of the machine.
