BREAKING: Russia will Adopt Both AK-12 and AEK-971 Assault Rifles
As you know, Russia hasn’t yet made a final decision which one of the new AK-12 and AEK-971 assault rifles to adopt. Both firearms are being extensively tested and issued in small quantities and both seem to be adequate to be adopted.
Recently, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin giving an interview to Russian news agency “ Interfax“, told about the possibility of adopting both rifles. According to Rogozin, they are not looking to find a winner and there won’t be a winner/loser in these trials as such. They will be considering to adopt both designs for different roles in the armed forces. He also said that the trials last so many years to refine the designs and make sure the newly adopted rifles will serve decades on.
The politician noted that AK-12 is a more affordable and simple rifle and will be suitable to arm large numbers of ordinary infantry forces. Although being relatively cheap, it is still a big improvement over AK-74M, offering a lot of features of a modern assault rifle (ambidexterity, accessory rails etc.).
AEK-971 is a bit more complicated design, but it has a number of advantages over AK-12. It is more accurate, controllable and modular. This rifle will be issued to border patrol regiments, SSO a.k.a Spetsnaz (special forces) and national guard. Comparing the two rifles with travel classes, Rogozin said that AK-12 is like an “economy class” rifle and AEK-971 is more like a “business class” one.
Both rifles will be tested more and probably will be finally adopted later this year.
Managing Editor Being a lifelong firearms enthusiast, Hrachya always enjoys studying the history and design of guns and ammunition. Should you need to contact him, feel free to shoot him a message at Hrachya@TheFirearmBlog.com
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I just wanted to say thing. This kind of prudence in armaments choice is because the Russians actually fought a brutal war on their soil and realize just how serious good infantry weapons are. That and they don't have enormous corporations trying to push guns that don't need to be the best, but instead need to be the least crap. This is what happens when the people in charge of the military actually remember that the bleeding heart and soul of the military isn't a helicopter, or a bomb guidance system, or a drone, or stealth paint, but is a very mortal man age 18-25 with a 6-8 pound piece of metal in his hands, some cloth on his back, and something hard over his torso in head with nothing more than courage and orders doing something his primeval ancestors before him likely did too. When you realize that, trillion dollar flops at fighter planes don't happen -- you instead spend money where it matters and you make smart choices, choices that are all about that young man with that chunk of metal instead of the old man in the business suit.
How bout an export AEK? :)