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Russia's defense industry

Commercial production of Russia's new AK-12 and A-545 assault rifles to start in February

Assault rifles of new generation are being developed to replace AK-74M in the army and to be included in Ratnik military gear

Archive ITAR-TASS/Sergey Bobylev

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© ITAR-TASS/Sergey Bobylev

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More chances for Kalashnikov assault rifle to be integrated in Ratnik combat gear

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Commercial production of Russia's new Kalashnikov (AK-12) and Degtyarev (A-545) assault rifles will be launched in February so that the Defense Ministry could choose weapons for the new "soldier of the future" gear upon the results of tests expected to be completed by late 2015, the Izvestia daily reported on Wednesday.

State trials of assault rifles AK-12 and A-545 were completed in January, the daily recalled. The defense agency tested several blueprints of each assault rifle and found that both submachine guns meet all requirements of the Defense Ministry. Degtyarev armoury has already rectified all flaws found at A-545 state trials and is ready for commercial production, sources in the defense and industrial sector told the daily. Kalashnikov weapons producer is about to complete similar work for AK-12.

"The final decision will be made after statistical data of trials is obtained," Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told the daily, noting that "as a pilot batch will be already produced on commercial scale, the price level which will also affect the Defense Ministry’s decision in some way will become almost clear for us."

"For a fair comparative analysis assault rifles produced in Izhevsk and Kovrov will be delivered to the same military units," Borisov told the daily.

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Assault rifles of new generation are being developed to replace AK-74M in the army and to be included in Ratnik military gear which will start to be delivered to troops in the spring of this year.

The military agency plans to buy at least 100 assault rifles of each model for a pilot batch and will deliver them to the Ground Troops and the Airborne Troops, the Defense Ministry noted. In 2015, these weapons will be tested in real conditions of combat training, checking their reliability, ergonomics and other features.

According to experts’ estimates, the Degtyarev assault rifle outstrips AK-12 in terms of the accuracy and fastness of shooting, but the latter is more suitable for massive use, prime cost calculations are also in favour of Kalashnikov.

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