Well, so much for that future as a financial analyst…

The stock market is the economy. You guys are new to the free market. You’ll find out soon enough.

I wrote a longer comment yesterday, but it seems that it got lost. But the others have already written about the Knight SMG.

@ jdun:

AFAIK today we have a worldwide economic crisis, which didn’t start in Russia. And the stock market is not the same as an economy … (But this has nothing to do with firearms so I will stop here.)

@ Jay.Mac:

This may sound alarming but in fact it is not. Most of the Russian military hardware is hopelessly outdated, 20 to 40 years old. Both Yeltsin and Putin did not invest much in armament. Therefore today they have reached a point where it is absolutely necessary to invest in the army if the forces should not become a joke. E.g.: the Russian army has 200 tank bataillons, but since 1992 only three (!) bataillons have received new tanks.

Further we should keep in mind that the Russian industry is exporting weapon systems which the Russian armed forces could not afford to buy.

The same goes for the well known Topol-M ICBM. A handful of new missiles is build per year, but dozens of older ones are taken out of the active duty. (BTW: Most NATO officers who are familiar with this topic understand this quite well. But it seems that some journalists and politicians are unable or unwilling to get it right.)

And most of the new money is needed for the reform of the armed forces which means not only modernising the equipment but also converting them to a (at least largely) professional force. As other countries have done, the Russian government wants to quit the draft in the midterm future. Last year the service time of the draftees has been reduced from 24 to 12 months.

http://world.guns.ru/smg/smg97-e.htm

Apparently it’s a standard kalashnikov receiver that’s been converted to a 9mm length magazine well and a blowback bolt. Sort of like 9mm AR-15 conversions I suppose. I guess the gas block is just there to mount the front sight.

It’s apparently related to the bizon SMG, except that it uses conventional box magazines rather than the bizon’s helical feed magazines. The version you have pictured appears to be the later mark with a left-sided charging handle and safety as well as picatinny rails.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=zQX&q=AK-9&btnG=Search

The worst thing that could have happen to Russia and the world is Obama. He will keep the US in an recession long then expected. That means the world economy is screwed. Without the economic strength of the US, the world economies will suffer.

$46 billions isn’t much for defense compare to Japan military budget which is over $60 billions and the US almost $600 billions.

Its confidence restored by a booming economy built on energy, Russia feels that it can regain some of its Soviet-era military power, a position emphasised by the large rise in defence spending.

The defence budget will rise by 25 per cent alone next year and by close to 50 percent in 2011, when it will stand at close to £32 billion.

Analysts say that if increases continue at the same rate, Russia will overtake Britain as the world’s second biggest military spender by the middle of the next decade.

Link – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/2991007/Russia-defies-West-with-new-arms-spending.html

I enjoy reading your blog, unfortunately Google Translate does not always do a good job!

Do you know anything about the “Knight”/”Рыцарь” sub machine gun? I can’t find any information on the internet.

No, it’s a reality.

Anyway the Russian move is backward. The US polices have be using AR15 in 5.56 for years. US Law Enforcement have all but replaced the sub machine guns with AR15.

But I think I need to correct your last sentences:

“Also unlike US police departments, and like much of the world, the MVD are employed, financed and administered by the central government.”

The law enforcement system in Russia is more complicated. The police (”Militsia”) is subordinate to the Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD or GUVD) of the regional governments. The federal MVD has only some oversight rights. The true federal police force are the riot police (”Internal Troops” of the federal MVD) and the FSB as a criminal police (like the FBI in the US).

“I think this arms upgrade, which will cost a fortune, demonstrates Russia’s new found wealth.”

I think there will not be many new guns anytime soon. The federal MVD gave a press information … and we will see what is happening in a few years. I believe only special units and the police of the larger cities will get new weapons within the next five years. The others will follow sometimes later. The MVD itself spoke of “some years” for the whole process.
As I wrote on my blog, the “Grach” pistol was adopted by the Russian Armed Forces as new standard sidearm in the year 2000, but only a few weapons were actually issued (mostly in Chechnya). Also the new “Abakan” rifle was officially adopted, but only a few found their way to the forces.
Therefore I’m sure the process of changing the police weapons will take a long time.

Regards,

Krenkel

PS: I hope my English is not too bad.