It is no secret that a close eye from abroad is watching over the Russian troops. Not only intelligence agents, but also warriors of the pen - for example, from the magazine The National Interest. This conservative publication with a militaristic bias puts the security of the US borders at the forefront. Therefore, the experts of The National Interest try to keep abreast of new armaments of all armies around the world, and are ready to generously share their knowledge with everyone.
They recently ranked the weapons preferred by the Russian military in 2020. And we will tell you about the first five places on this list in full detail.
5. SAKO TRG 42
Finnish weapons are respected by the military from all over the world. It has a well-deserved reputation for being reliable and, most importantly, accurate. The Finnish army has always focused on accuracy, so their military industry is trying to meet the needs.
One of the most popular Finnish-made guns among law enforcement agencies is the Sako TRG line of sniper rifles. It is a magazine rifle with a sliding bolt action, a telescopic sight and an aiming bar.
Although in the Russian army these weapons are mainly used by employees of anti-terrorist units, with the Sako TRG, snipers in the reconnaissance forces have also been repeatedly spotted. The second most popular are the Austrian Steyr SSG 08 sniper rifles.
The reason is in the indicators, according to which Sako TRG leaves behind the domestically produced SV-98 and Orsis rifles. Alas, Russian developers failed to finally solve the problems with the shutter, which are present even in one of the latest models of the line of high-precision snipers, the Orsis T-5000.
Let's add that in addition to high quality and excellent characteristics, Sako TRGs are also cheap (at least much cheaper than domestic counterparts). True, recently the position of Sako TRG in the Russian arms market has slightly shaken, since in 2018 the troops began to massively supply the upgraded model SV-98. Will Sako TRG lose popularity with the Russian military? Time will tell.
By the way, if desired, any civilian can get at his own disposal practically the same rifle that is used by the Russian special forces. It is regarded as a sporting and hunting weapon and costs just over 400 thousand rubles.
4.HK MP5
The MP5 family has a rich and glorious history: its first representative was born in 1966 and almost immediately was adopted by the police and border troops. Since then, the family has expanded, new modifications have appeared for special circumstances, but the classic MP5 model is still not out of fashion.
This popular among Russian military firearms is supported by both ease of use (judging by the reviews, it has an extremely good handle and fuse location), and the length of the barrel, despite its overall compactness, as well as variability. The capabilities of the MP5 can be significantly improved by using various types of scopes and a flashlight. In general, it is a sturdy, sturdy, durable design that can be easily assembled and disassembled for cleaning.
Russia is no exception.MP5 entered service with the FSB units, including the special forces "Alpha" and "Whirlwind". Of course, they are refined (equipped with red dot scopes and other accessories). True, import substitution began in the military field - recently, troops began to arm themselves with a domestic-made submachine gun called Vityaz-SN, aka PP-19-01. Probably the reason is the lower price of Vityaz.
Experts of The National Interest disapprove of the replacement, believing that the domestic submachine gun is much inferior to its German counterpart in its shooting qualities. The friendly shooting competition between the subdivisions of the Belarusian "Alpha" using the HK MP5, and the "Alpha" of the Russian with the "Knights" confirm the point of view of American journalists.
3. PKP "Pecheneg"
Although the Kalashnikov machine gun did not become a living legend, like its own rifle, however, according to experts from The National Interest, it is more technically advanced. Despite the weight - 8.2 kg on the bipod or 12.7 on the machine, which is much less than the analogs of the 7.62 mm caliber - the machine gun does not lose its accuracy and controllability. And "Pecheneg" is a modernized version of that very machine gun.
The bipod and the barrel have undergone improvements: special windows for ventilation are made in the casing so that during shooting (and a lot of heat energy is released during shooting), cold air flows through them for cooling. This increases not only the durability and strength of the barrel, but also the accuracy of shooting.
Basically "Pecheneg" is used by special forces, and its "parent", the Kalashnikov machine gun, is still in service with the Russian army. It is a sin not to use this simple and reliable design, which has not yet been surpassed in performance.
Over the decades since the creation of the Kalashnikov machine gun, several modifications of this weapon have appeared:
- with bipods,
- upgraded version with a smooth barrel,
- tank machine gun, "Badger" with a low-noise barrel,
- and the same "Pecheneg" with improved cooling.
According to Western weapon lovers, the main drawback of the Kalashnikov machine gun is that the tape is not detachable, but with a fixed length. Therefore, the shooter, in addition to the actual shooting, also has to handle the empty tape on the left side so that it does not get stuck anywhere. However, from the point of view of the military, this is by no means a drawback - after all, the tape can be reused!
2. Glock 17
Although the Glock 17 pistol is one of the favorite weapons of the Russian military, it was originally developed for the Austrian army. The goal of the Glock designers was to create a simple, reliable and durable weapon that was also easy to maintain and maintain. The goal was achieved, and immediately after the demonstration and military tests, the company was ordered so many weapons that its own could not cope; it took subcontractors.
Since then, the Glock 17 has marched triumphantly around the world; it is currently used by over 30 countries. In addition to the police, he is also loved by special forces, as well as elite units of the security services.
The Russian military industry tried to imitate the Glock 17 as much as possible, creating the GSH-18. Like the Glock 17, it has a polyamide frame (lightweight), a double-acting shock trigger, and the GSH-18 inherited ease of maintenance from the Austrian pistol. However, the original did not appear to be surpassed, as the Glock 17 is still in service with elite special forces such as the Alpha unit.
1. AK-74M
In the first place in the list of preferences of the Russian army and special forces are weapons, the leadership of which is beyond doubt. This is the famous assault rifle, another brainchild of the genius Soviet design engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov. The weapon turned out to be so good that it became extremely popular and, in fact, became a living legend.
Now in the armed forces of Russia, a modified version of the same machine, AK-74M, reigns supreme.It is distinguished from the original by a two-chamber muzzle device, which made it possible to increase the accuracy of fire without sacrificing the advantages of its "ancestor" - reliability, low weight and low recoil. It also became possible to install a Picatinny rail on it - a rail mount, on which you can already hang all sorts of accessories like flashlights, bipods and sights.
True, recently voices have been heard that the old man is starting to give up and it's time to choose something to replace the AK-74. The main contender is the AK-12 produced by the Izhevsk arms factory.