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The Russians are trying to turn their military around from a conscript one to a professional military.

They could be moving away from the AK in a bid to secure more sales from neutral countries/emerging economies, perhaps because the AK is seen as a Communist weapon and the weapon of choice for terrorists/freedom fighters.

Would this suggest a move away from the 7,62x39 at the same time?

The Russians moved away from the 7.62x39 back in the late 70's early 80's as their service round. They kept producing it for all the earlier AK still around.

ovenpaa wrote:Would this suggest a move away from the 7,62x39 at the same time?

As above, since the AK74 has been in production, the Russians have been using a 5.45x39mm cartridge. This was to combat the "new uber-deadley" 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge.

I doubt the Russians will stop using the 5.45mm - but if they do, they'll probably go "up", maybe a 6.5mm or something - the US has been toying with that idea for years. If the Russians do, then expect a new NATO standard cartridge to be adopted within a few years.

The new version is expected to have a longer range and will be more accurate.[/quote]

Won't be hard to achoeve will it. Calibre, maybe they have watched all the NATO experiences and come out with their own 6.5 or whatever. Should all depend on where they see themselves fighting I suppose.

I expect the new one will be in the same ammo as the old one...or will it be in .762 Nato?

I suspect the former...unless they want to cart around yet another different cartridge in the war theatre.

They could copy the US and use a take down modular system, carry a different upper and barrel depending on situation. Go from a 7.62x39 to a say .50cal...

No doubt there is a good few ton of 7.62x39 left, what about a revamped 7.62x54??? Rejigged to imrove ballistics....big heavy round...or even a lighter / faster round... still in use in Dragunov is it not. if they just firmed up the barrel on the AK they would be half way there as it is.

I just re-read the article and it's a bit misleading.

The Russian army is opting not to buy any more Kalashnikovs, the legendary rifles that still kill a quarter of a million people every year in every corner of the globe. They did not buy the AK-74, a more recent version than the AK-47, in 2011, and do not plan to do so in 2012 and 2013.

The Defense Ministry explained that “all the warehouses are full of them,” but they have not been modernized for a long time, Izvestia reported.

The army’s representatives say they expect a new rifle from Kalashnikov manufacturer Izhmash by the end of the year. The new version is expected to have a longer range and will be more accurate.

Going by the above the Russians don't need to buy any more AK's as they have plenty. The statement that "They did not buy the AK-74, a more recent version than the AK-47, in 2011, and do not plan to do so in 2012 and 2013." Is either incorrect as the Russian military uses the AK-74 or just grammatically poor and is supposed to mean they did not buy any more AK-74's 2011 and they will no longer be buying any more.

The fact that Army expects a new rifle from Izhmash means they are still looking at Kalshnikovs or a derivative for their Military.

This new rifle could well be the AK-107 http://izhevsk.club.guns.ru/eng/ak107.html which uses a system called the Balanced Automatics Recoil System (BARS). This somehow (don't ask me how it works! :G ) balances out the recoil of the gas piston thus reducing felt recoil and eliminating muzzle rise, thus making it extremely accurate.

Russia has been buying AK-74s on a standard order for years. The fact that they have enough in store to arm all of their (theoretical) reserves means that they have millions of rifles in store. Given that they are scaling down the old Soviet estimates for mobilised reserves, a vast number of brand-new AK-74s are completely surplus to requirements.

I gather that one of the key objectives in any new rifle will be a receiver better suited to mounting accessories.

Note the AK-108 in 5.56 Nato.

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