The fifth-generation Kalashnikov AK-12 assault rifle used by Russian forces in Ukraine has been modified to increase its rate of fire and give its operators easier control over the fire selector, Russia’s RIA news agency reported today, citing the manufacturer.
In the AK-12 version, which entered service in 2018, the two-shot option will be disabled and operators will now be able to choose between either single-shot or automatic mode, and there will also be an adapter on the stock, said chairman of the Kalashnikov company, Alan Lushnnikov, to RIA.
“In the shortest possible time we selected technical solutions, built a prototype and demonstrated it to representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” said Mr. Luznikov.
He did not say when he expects the modified rifle to enter service. He limited himself to saying that the company is in the process of patenting the new rifle design.
The AK-12, with a caliber of 5.45 mm and a barrel of 415 mm, developed by the Kalashnikov industry, is the main rifle of the Russian armed forces. It has improved reliability and accuracy over earlier models of the “Kalashnikov Automat” designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov and entered service in 1949 in the former Soviet Union.
The Kalashnikov industry was sanctioned by the US in 2014, the year Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. The European Union and Britain imposed their own sanctions on the company this year.
