#Ratnik

In the previous article about the history of the AK-12, I talked about the “Ratnik” program and the earliest known prototype of the rifle. Now, it is time to talk about the second and third prototypes, which will be much easier, since I was personally involved in the trials and testing of those guns, as well as many demos and media events.

In the last 75 years, dozens of different Kalashnikov variants were developed all over the globe. At least 32 countries produced various AK rifles, hundreds of engineers tried to improve them. But, in all these years, not a single new variation of an AK has received as much attention from the media as the AK-12 assault rifle.

The Russian Defense Ministry has made a decision regarding its next infantry rifle: It will adopt everything, it seems. Not only will Russian Army forces receive the improved 5.45x39mm AK-12 ( the new AK-12, not the different previous version), and the 7.62x39mm AK-15, but the 5.45mm Degtyarov AEK-971 and 7.62x39mm AEK-973 will be procured for special units as well. This “two-tiered” rifle mix is not unusual in the modern era, but a formal, simultaneous adoption of two such weapons is quite strange for a major military such as that of the Russian Federation. From Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) [machine translated from Russian with corrections]:

In an interview given to TASS news agency, Dmitriy Semizorov, the CEO of TsNII TochMash has revealed some of the features of the Ratnik-3 future soldier equipment that is being developed for the Russian military. Let’s see what new has become known.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the relatively rare or new knives, bayonets and multi-tools of Russian armed forces and special police units. Some of these edged weapons are adopted in small quantities by special forces, others are newly adopted and are being widely supplied to Russian armed forces. I’ll skip the well known and old ones like AK-47 and AK-74 bayonets, about which there is a plenty of information available. Also, this post doesn’t include machetes and axes. So, without further ado, let՛s get started (in no particular order):

According to RIA Novosti and TASS (Russian news agencies) Land Forces of Russian Federation started issuing “Ratnik” (Warrior) kits to the troops. As covered earlier on TFB, Ratnik includes a number of upgrades to existing weapons and gear, as well as new equipment. They’ve already issued about 100,000 such kits, which generally receive positive feedback from the soldiers.

The AK-12 is dead. Long live the AK-12! That’s the song Kalashnikov Concern is singing this week at the recent ARMY 2016 expo in Moscow, Russia. The radical AK-12 prototypes that have dominated Kalashnikov’s press over the past two years are gone, replaced by a more conservative rifle – also called “AK-12” – based on the Concern’s previous AK-400 prototypes. The new rifle addresses the Russian Army’s concerns regarding the AK-12’s cost and issues in fully automatic fire, an anonymous source told TFB, and is expected to be much cheaper to build than the previous model. It incorporates many of the same improvements developed for the previous AK-12 model, but improves the strength and resilience of some of the components.

An image of a mysterious new Russian machine gun was leaked to the public recently, during a visit to the Kalashnikov factory by Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. The weapon is an intriguing dual-feed magazine/belt loading gun that features distinctly un-AK-like underbarrel gas tube, as well as integral top and bottom Picatinny-type rails. Little is known about the weapon besides its name which is reportedly “RPK-400” (Ручной пулемёт Калашникова -400, or “Handheld Kalashnikov Machine Gun 400”) EDIT: That is apparently the name of the modernized RPK-74 that is on the far left in the image

Russia’s next-generation infantry modernization program is in full swing, and while here at TFB we’ve covered two of the rifles, the AEK-571/A545 and AK-12, competing for orders as part of the program, but the program as a whole is more extensive than just a new infantry weapon. The project, called Ratnik (a Russian word equivalent to “warrior”) is a total modernization of infantry equipment, introducing over 40 new items, including camouflage, comms gear, sights, body armor, navigation equipment, designators, and, of course, small arms. A three-year order for Ratnik equipment was placed in October of last year, and is expected to consist of deliveries of 50,000 units per year.

Coming on the heels of (and surely related to) news that Kalashnikov Concern has decided to launch the AK-12 on the open market, the Russian Army has announced today that both the AK-12 and the A545 (improved AEK-971 variant) have passed state trials and will be accepted into service with operational units for evaluation. VPK.name reports: