#Rpk-16

During the  ARMY 2020 exhibition, Kalashnikov Concern has revealed the prototype of a new belt-fed 5.45x39mm light machine gun called RPL-20. Earlier, in an  interview given to RIA Novosti news agency, Dmitry Tarasov, the CEO of Kalashnikov Concern, said that that based on the field testing of RPK-16, the Russian military formed new requirements for an LMG which were the base of starting the development of RPL-20. This new LMG is however significantly different from the RPK-16 and the ammunition is probably the only thing these two guns share.

Kalashnikov Concern have confirmed that their new light machine gun the RPK-16 has been adopted by Russia’s National Guard, the Rosgvardia. Back in September, the National Guard of Russia announced their purchase of a small number of the new AK-200 series of rifles from Kalashnikov Concern.

In this article, we’ll discuss the history, development and evolution of muzzle devices seen on Mikhail Kalashnikov’s Avtomat. In particular, we’ll talk about those made in the Soviet Union and Russia. Just like in the case of  one of our previous installments dedicated to the history of Soviet/Russian AK bayonets, this article is also primarily based on Kalashnikov Gun Magazine‘s content which we use with the permission of KGM’s chief editor. Without further ado let’s see how the AK muzzle devices developed over the years.

A year ago we reported that the Russian Federation’s army had adopted the 5.45x39mm RPK-16 Light Machine Gun. Reports from Russia’s MoD’s official newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda (or Red Star), confirm that the RPK-16 has begun operational testing with Russian forces.

At the end of the past month, we reported about the  adoption of AK-12, AK-15, AEK-971, and AEK-973 rifles by the Russian military. Back then it was not clear if they are going to adopt the RPK-16 light machine gun, too. Today,  Kalashnikov Concern and TASS news agency announced that the Kalashnikov Concern and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation have signed a contract concerning the procurement of RPK-16 LMGs. In other words, Russia has adopted the RPK-16.

According to Russian news agency TASS, the Kalashnikov Concern officials have informed them that the AK-12 has successfully passed all the government tests and trials and it is planned to be adopted by the Russian armed forces. The key phrase is “planned to”, which means it is not quite official yet. The Kalashnikov Concern also released a video showing some design details of their newest firearms like the AK-12, AK-15, RPK-16 etc.

The elusive Tokar-2 5.45mm belt-fed machine gun made an appearance at the recent Rosgvardia Open House event late last month. The event demonstrated weapons and equipment being used by the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), and was open to the public. Russian media outlet Armytex posted pictures of the event to their page on the social media site VK.com, including photos of the Tokar-2: