Russian Defense Minister Calls for Replacing the Venerable AK-47 Assault Rifle

The AK-47 is the most common assault weapon in the world. To date some 110 million have been manufactured and sold worldwide. I guess even the most ubiquitous and reliable weapon in the world must eventually be replaced, but this is still a shocking development.

The AK-47 is the child of Mikhail Kalashnikov, a former tank driver in WWII. While recovering from combat injuries Kalashnikov designed what evolved into the venerable AK-47 which stands for Automatic Kalashnikov, 1947, for its year of adoption by the Russian military. The AK has popped up all over the world in the hands of nearly every rebel, insurgent and terrorist in the last 60 years, as well as was the official weapon of the USSR and its client states, the Warsaw Pact, as well as poorer nation's armies worldwide.

The AK-47 has a stellar reputation for reliability, ease of operation, ease of maintaining the weapon and lethality. The round the AK discharges is a full width .30 caliber projectile that has been cut down from the full sized Soviet round of 7.62x54mm to a shorter 7.62x39mm. The full width yet shorter round is exceptionally deadly at ranges usually found in actual combat, but the weapon's design does not lend to accuracy, especially out to ranges over 300 yards or so. There has been a tendency in years recent for longer range accuracy which I find odd in that most combat firefights occur at less than 200 yards, often as little as 30-50 yards.

The AK series of assault rifles had a few things going for them that are undeniable - the weapons are cheap to manufacture, especially by comparison to other military assault rifles; are the easiest of all modern weapons to maintain; are exceptionally deadly at typical combat ranges and is without doubt the most reliable automatic or semi-automatic weapon ever made. The AK was originally constructed of few milled parts, having the body of the weapon mostly stamped in a press from flat sheet steel as opposed to most weapons that are made on lathes, which is more time consuming, costly and precise than is the stamping of a component.

It is the lack of precision that makes the AK what it is. As the Fox source article states "Military lore holds that an AK-47 can be buried in the mud, dug up a year later and still be fired." This lack of precision manufacture makes the weapon exceptionally reliable and basically "fool proof" which is why I, the fool in question, own multiple AK's and other variants. Short of actually breaking the firearm all one need do is load it, point and click and the result will be bang every single time. This is a function of loose tolerances within the weapon's moving parts and was designed that way specifically. The AK-47 was designed to be operated by a largely conscript, peasant army lacking both formal education and sophistication.

So it would seem based on the Russian Foreigner Minister's words, the weapon's eventual downfall are for the exact same reasons why it is the most reliable and ubiquitous weapon in the world. The weapon's designed lack of sophistication and uber reliability are double edged swords. The extreme reliability is a function of its lack of precision manufacture, stamped not milled or lathed, as well as sacrificing long range accuracy due to reliability.

Frankly the assault rifle was a compromise - any assault rifle is a compromise - between the concept of long range accuracy, amount of ammo the combat soldier can practically carry in their load out due to the size and weight of the projectile and cartridge, rate of fire, weight of the weapon itself and reliability.

The assault rifle does everything pretty well, nothing perfectly. But then combat is an imprecise endeavor. Effective compromise is one of the keys. What is it US Marines' always say? "We do the maximum with what we have and don't bitch about what we don't have." See, effective compromise.

The AK series of weapons have undergone a mild revolution in their lifespan. As a result of the development of the smaller 5.56x45mm projectile of the American M-16 family of weapons, AK weapon designer Kalashnikov oversaw a shrinking down of the projectile of the AK-47, resulting in a newer and even more deadly variant, the AK-74, which shoots a smaller 5.45x39mm projectile. The AK-74 is almost the exact same weapon as the AK-47 but for a few minor cosmetic alterations and the smaller projectile.

Personally this statement of the Russian Defense Minister means nothing in practical terms. The Russian Federation's likely adoption of some already manufactured weapon is possible, and as the Fox article offered there is another option - the adoption of the Israeli Galil. The Galil is a 5.56x45mm assault rifle that is truly the best of both worlds - accuracy and reliability. The Galil is a Kalashnikov-like weapon in design and operation on a heavier framed, longer barreled firearm that offers greatly increased accuracy over the standard Kalashnikov series of assault rifles as well as the legendary reliability of the AK weapons.

Finally a personal testament....I own multiple civilian, semi-automatic versions of the AK-47. I own multiple civilian, semi-auto versions of the smaller projectile shooting AK-74 and I also own an American clone of the Israeli Galil as well. As I stated earlier, myself being the "fool in question," I opt for reliability over range. I cannot foresee my ever needing to shoot anything at 500 or 600 yards away. Instead I will wait for it to approach closer and choose unequaled reliability and function over range. Just a personal choice.

SOURCES: hyperlinks

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/21/russian-defense-minister-causes-uproar-replace-famed-ak/?test=latestnews

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle