Kalashnikov Concern first introduced the PPK-20 9mm SMG a little over a year ago. This is essentially a modernized Vityaz submachine gun, the result of the “Vityaz-MO” R&D project. During the ARMY-2021 exhibition, the company unveiled a new, lighter and shorter version of this SMG tailored to the requirements of the Russian Aerospace Forces. This SMG is currently being tested in the Russian State Flight Test Centre in Aktyubinsk and may be adopted as the new firearm of the Russian military pilots’ personal survival kit.

Kalashnikov Concern @ TFB:

• Kalashnikov Concern Shows The Prototype of Upcoming 500-Series AKs – The AKV-521 Rifle
• Has India Sealed the Deal? 770,000 Kalashnikov AK-203s for Indian Armed Forces
• Kalashnikov Concern’s New MP-155 ULTIMA Smart Shotgun
• Kalashnikov Concern Reveals The RPL-20 Belt-Fed 5.45x39mm LMG

PPK-20 SMG. Photo credit: Vladimir Onokoy

Compared to its standard counterpart, the PPK-20 SMG for the Russian Aerospace Forces is 65mm (~2.5″) shorter (410mm vs 475mm with the stock folded), and 600 grams (~21oz) lighter (2.5kg vs 3.1kg). Тhe weight and length reductions are achieved by having a shorter barrel and receiver. One of the reasons for shortening the length is to make the gun fit into the ejection seats of Russian military aircraft.

Like its predecessors, the new PPK-20 is a blowback submachine gun chambered in 9x19mm. It features a new right-side folding adjustable stock, QD suppressor, new polymer pistol grip with integrated trigger guard, and a new set of handguards with integrated front sight post and hood, M-LOK slots on sides and Picatinny rails on the top and bottom. The top cover of the receiver is fitted with a Picatinny rail and a rear sight. The ambidextrous thumb safety is integrated with the standard AK safety lever. The maximum overall length of this SMG with the suppressor attached and the stock fully extended is 770mm (~30″). The rate of fire is 800 rounds per minute.

PPK in the model designation of this SMG stands for Pistolet-Pulemyot Kalashnikova (Пистолет-Пулемет Калашникова) which translates Kalashnikov Submachine Gun. This latest iteration of the Vityaz SMG was renamed PPK-20 as a tribute to late Victor Kalashnikov, Mikhail Kalashnikov’s son, who was the head designer of Bison and Vityaz submachine guns.