When people think of the latest Russian small arms development, they naturally think of the AK-12. The design attempted to bring the venerable Kalashnikov pattern into the post-9/11 world of rails, optics, and force multiplier accessories. Though this could be done with the help of third-party accessories on the old AK platform, the AK-12 made the gun out-of-the-box ready for all the gadgets promised from Russia’s defense budget. However, anyone familiar with military procurement and weapons deployment will know that often the shiny and new platforms have to wait for production to ramp up, for budgets to be finalized, and more often, for the “good enough” older platforms to break down.

For this reason, when the war in Ukraine began, I was skeptical of the AK-12 having any significant use. The AK-74m and AK-100 series of weapons were my best guess as the most common weapons to be used. Without access to classified or insider information, I used the old Cold War yardstick of looking at the May 9^th Victory Day parades. In the years leading up to the 2022 full-scale invasion, only specialized units like airborne and naval infantry groups goose-stepped their way across Red Square with rifles strapped across their stripped chests. More troubling, or perhaps reassuring depending on your point of view, parts kits spirited into the United States and began to show that the AK-12 as the platform was not such a step forward as the Russians were hoping. Though the weapon is not the most common platform over there, it surprised me in how often it was captured by Ukrainian forces, or otherwise photographed by Russians themselves. Ukrainian forces routinely fight with captured AK-12s as a stopgap for dwindling Soviet stock, and latent production of Ukraine’s own AR platform, the UAR. The evidence shows that I was proven wrong. Russia has made a concerted effort to put the AK-12 into as many hands as possible, and what is more, the Russians are learning lessons from its deployment.

In response to these lessons, and possibly even criticism from international experts online, the weapon progresses through three iterations of the rifle: the model 2015, the 2022, and the 2023. Simultaneously, Tula, another famed site of Russian arms production, and Kalashnikov Concern have started to work on three new cartridges. In typical Russian fashion, Russia tends to copy a good design when they see one (just look at their automotive industry over the last ninety years). One possible new cartridge, the 6.02x41mm seems to compete with the US 6.8x51mm, as the US reconsiders its own formula for cartridge capability for its new generation of standard-issue small arms.

The 5.45×39 cartridge, which the AK-12 and the AK-74 platforms use, was its own response to the American use of .556 as a military cartridge in Vietnam- a high-speed micro-caliber round designed, let’s be honest, for varmint hunting, which could deliver high-energy onto a human size target. As everyone naturally remembers from high school physics, force equals mass times acceleration. Acceleration, of course, is speed squared. That means you get a big force multiplier for going faster while if you increase only mass, you get less bang for your buck than if you increase acceleration. Things get complicated in the real world, though. Things that are light also slow down with greater ease. Likewise, inertia also means that things with more mass take more energy to get going, but also take more effort to stop. It’s why we use high-mass uranium ammunition to break through tank armor like butter. Similarly for soft targets, you’d like a round that ideally passes its energy into the target without penetrating, or else that energy is lost in the pass-through. Okay, the physics lesson is over, but the Russians have been paying attention to this balancing act between speed and mass that every weapons engineer has been dealing with ever since forever.

In 2020, the Tula Cartridge Plant and Kalashnikov Concern began running the numbers on 6.7x45mm, 6.5x39mm and 6.02x41mm. The ideal round would need to have a manageable recoil impulse for automatic fire but still meet penetrating action values. After all, the goal of the round is to deal with modern body armor-clad targets, without being unmanageable for basic conscripts. The initiative selected the 6.02×41 as the most optimal candidate. To compare the round to 5.45×39 and 7.62×39, the round has superior kinetic energy at extended distances, maintaining armor-piercing capability up to 900 meters, according to Kalashnikov Concerns own publications. This is due to the bullet shape and improved external ballistic capabilities. Once again, the mission set of the cartridge matches the American 6.8x51mm, which similarly attempts to bring full-powered ballistics to intermediate cartridges to defeat Chinese and Russian body armor threats. However, this new Russian cartridge would need a weapon.

The AK-22 and SVCh:

To test the potential of the 6.02x41mm caliber, Kalashnikov Concern has modified a standard AK-12 model into the AK-22, showcasing its adaptability and versatility. AKs surprisingly accommodate re-chambering well. Additionally, the SVCh (Sniper Rifle, Large Caliber), which seeks to replace the SVD Dragunov, has been chambered for the 6.02x41mm cartridge. As an aside, there is talk of developing a new cartridge to replace the aging 7.62x54R. This could lead to the creation of a new general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) to rival the nascent U.S. 338 Norma Magnum lightweight medium machine gun program. These two short and long platforms allow for ballistic testing and overall weapon handling for the round. Though the SVCh platform, due to barrel length and inherent accuracy, is likely to see the top-level performance of the round, the Russians (to date) have avoided a return to “battle rifles” for standard-issue military arms.  Kalashnikov Concern recently completed a three-year contract to supply AK-12 rifles to the Russian Ministry of Defense, reportedly ahead of schedule. There is certainly a need for more rifles as the war progresses and resources are lost.

The future of the 6.02x41mm cartridge and the potential adoption of the AK-22 and SVCh for special military operations in Ukraine remain uncertain but intriguing possibilities. Will the Russians change horses mid-stream or will they introduce an experimental program as they did for the 7.62×39 in the waning days of the Second World War? History will show how these discussions will play out.

One critical consideration for the future of Russian assault rifles is ensuring that new developments outperform their predecessors. The AK-12 faced criticism for not significantly surpassing its predecessor and lacking widespread adoption of optics. Russia will certainly take notice of these past experiences, such as the U.S. Advanced Combat Rifle program, to create competitive offerings like the Vortex XM157. This will likely cause some hesitancy in adopting the cartridge any time soon. Beyond the AK-12, Russian firearm developers are considering the AM-17 series, Russia’s monolithic upper receiver rifle, which offers compact and full-size rifles in various calibers, with a focus on reducing weight and improving ergonomics. The platform takes on the challenge of the AK’s rigid receiver design and limited optic mounting options over the top of the receiver. The AKV-521, described as “the 500 Series AK,” addresses these challenges as well, radically changing the AK’s function to incorporate a lower receiver hinge vaguely reminiscent of an AR-15.  The RPL-20, a belt-fed light machine gun, rechambered in 6.02x41mm, could potentially fill the role of the US M249 or the new XM250. However, such a transition would require doctrinal changes in how Russia deploys and employs light machine guns and GPMGs.

Russia is entering an exploratory phase of weapon design, learning from its “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine, and striving for continuous improvement in its small arms and equipment. It remains to be seen what path it will take, but the development of the AK-12 and exploration of new calibers, along with potential alternatives like the AM-17 and AKV-521, demonstrate Russia’s commitment to staying competitive in an ever-evolving global arms race. As the future unfolds, the Russian firearms industry will play a crucial role in the nation’s defense capabilities.

The collapse of the Soviet Union plunged the new Russian state into chaos, plagued by organized crime and terrorism. To face these challenges, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of the young Russian Federation put out a search for a new pistol caliber submachine gun suitable for the new challenges of law enforcement. In 1993, the design group of the Izhevsk Machinebuilding  Plant sought to answer this need. They were led by a dream team of the sons of famous Mikhail Kalashnikov and Yevgeny Dragunov, the respective designers of the venerable AK and SVD. Victor Mikhailovich Kalashnikov and Alexei Yevgenievich Dragunov envisioned a uniquely compact submachine gun to address the MVD requirements, the PP-19 Bizon (Bison).

Elements of the design and construction history of the Bizon remain state secrets. However, it can be inferred that the Bizon may have been influenced from the U.S. Calico and its helical magazine system. Despite the bold design direction, the Bizon’s magazine was less refined, suffered from reliability issues and brought up an old problem with Russian and Soviet high-capacity magazines. Despite intending to be interchangeable between other Bizons, each magazine was most effective when matched to its parent gun for proper feeding. This was a common issue held by both the PPSh-41 and PPD submachine guns fielded in the Second World War. The helical magazines have two basic types: an early aluminum model and a later production polymer magazine. Both feature a different internal feeding mechanism. The 9×18 magazines hold 64 rounds, and the 9×19 version holds 54 rounds. There is a loading lock so while spinning the magazines’ timing while loading, the tension may be locked to somewhat ease loading. However, the loading process is subjectively awkward and time consuming. The magazines were inserted in a familiar rock-and-lock style of standard AK magazines. The helical magazine was bulky and required multiple design iterations before adoption. The extreme dimensions of the magazines also required specially made pouches that negatively affected the ergonomics of an operator’s kit, trading off magazine capacity for speed and ease of reloads. The Bizon, while in service, was said to have seen little use, losing out to more traditional and reliable submachine gun configurations, such as the widely available AKS-74U. The Bizon remained lighter, and when unloaded, and the low recoil for the 9mm Makarov cartridge produced a light recoil when compared to the Kalashnikov’s prior rifle caliber chambering. Designer Victor Kalashnikov admitted that they had dubbed the Bizon “the women’s gun” due in part to the weapon’s light weight and lack of recoil.

The Bizon achieved some weight savings with a newly designed proprietary receiver, partially relieved at the lower front end with altered and extended bolt guide rails to support the helical magazine and strengthen the front of the receiver. The shortened dimensions excised the standard side, folding locking mechanism seen on the AKS-74 and its derivatives. Instead, the lock had to be redesigned to allow the stock to affix to a cross-trunnion barrel pin when folded. The standard AK triangle side folding stock had a new securing plate riveted and spot welded to access the repositioned stock catch. A sheet metal cover was fitted above the magazine below the barrel, the magazine itself acting as the hand shield. A special trigger guard with flared guide wings was designed, as well as a new shortened side optics mount and a proprietary front trunnion and sight block. The flared magazine housing allowed for ease of magazine changes. The 8.9-inch, 9mm barrel is threaded to 14×1 left hand for a conical bird-cage-type flash hider. The rear sight leaf ranges from 50m to 100m in the 9x18mm Makarov. This design allowed for the near identical manual of arms with other Kalashnikov variants.

I took on the challenge of constructing “the women’s gun” in 9x18mm Makarov, as a builder at M-13 Industries in Las Vegas, Nevada. I originally intended to modify a standard AK receiver before I was contacted by Chitin Defense and ReCreator Blanks, who were working in collaboration to produce a Bizon-clone receiver. The design was copied off a destroyed receiver with incredibly high fidelity. The ReCreator Blanks receiver was an immaculate copy of the examples that I had seen in Russia. For the barrel, we used a Lothar Walther USA 9x18mm barrel blank and chambered and turned down the barrel to the proper diameter, length and threading. An original bolt, destroyed in the deactivation process, took the most time to reactivate. Russian engineers had cut off most of the face, the extractor and the firing pin. Special care was taken in every aspect of the build to ensure a true and, at the time, a one-of-a-kind build in the U.S.

On the Range

While on the range testing the M-13 Industries Bizon, I was amazed at how compact, balanced and well-grouped the weapon shot. The carbine is accurate and has enough rounds contained in its just-right capacity magazine. This built-in 9×18 magazine holds 64 rounds. Using the earlier model aluminum helical magazine, I tested various ammunition manufacturers, including Wolf, S&B and Fiocchi. Due to the drastic feed angle, hollow-point projectiles do not feed in the Bizon. Overall, I was amazed how well it functioned and felt while shooting the weapon.

Current Use

Despite falling out of favor to other conventional submachine guns, the Bizon is still retained in specialty armories in Russia, and they appear in modern photos of Russian Special Forces training from time to time. However, just as the PPSh-41 and its drum were supplanted by more reliable and faster reloading stick magazine designs, the Bizon has been widely replaced by the traditional layout of the PP-19-01 Vityaz. With a surge of popularity, introduction to the Russian civilian market and increased use by Russian security forces abroad, the Vityaz will likely carry on as Kalashnikov Concern’s submachine gun for years to come.

In the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union was engaged in a silent battle. Organized crime and terrorist cells had adopted body armor use alongside its growing use by conventional fighting forces. Terrorist threats were quickly spreading from the Middle East during the Afghan War and affecting urban areas. These changes contributed to the ever-growing need for body-armor-defeating weaponry paired with a diminished sound signature, packaged in both a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. The Soviet Union’s answer in 1987 was the VSS Vintorez (Special Sniper rifle) and the assault variant, the AS Val (Special Automatic rifle). Both designs were the creation of Pyotr Serdyukov at the Central Research Institute of Precision engineering (TsNIITochMash) in Klimovsk. The need for such a weapon arose in the 1970s, and in 1972, the Soviet command established a special development group at TsNIITochMash. Among the elite selected, the Baku native Serdyukov, an alumnus of the Tula Polytechnic Institute, was chosen to run the VSS Vintorez project. Serdyukov came to Klimovsk in 1969 upon graduation and quickly became known as a gun smith with proclivities for design. In total, he would create 14 designs at TsNIITochMash, but the AS Val and VSS Vintorez are notably his most famous. When asked what his favorite weapon design is during an interview with Russian media, he responded, “It is not right to have a favorite of anything that kills.” The VAL and VSS would draw first blood in the Chechen conflicts of the tumultuous 1990s.

Armor-Defeating Cartridge

One the most distinguishing features of this weapon is the ammunition; the 9×39 cartridge also born in the late 1980s in Klimovsk. TsNIITochMash designed the cartridge to meet Spetsnaz requirements issued from the Soviet Ministry of Defense in the prior decade. The round should be for subsonic special-purpose, intermediate ranged weapons with improved penetration and stopping power against armored targets. Testing at the KSPZ Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant yielded a muzzle velocity of 925 to 958 feet per second with the 250- to 260-grain SP-5 and SP-6 projectiles (SP-Special Cartridge).

The designers created the improved subsonic ammunition based on the 7.62×39 case, necked up to 9mm. To achieve stability at subsonic velocity, they were loaded with heavier projectiles. The SP-5 was loaded with standard “ball” rounds with a lead core and was intended for accurate sniper work out to 300 to 400 meters. The SP-6 cartridge featured an armor-piercing projectile with a machine-hardened steel core. This round could defeat all common levels of body armor up to 300-400 meters. Some reports suggest the round has successfully defeated body armor out to 500 meters, though this is outside the design parameters and has little official documentation. In current Russian deployment, the round is used against a target no more than 300 meters to give sufficient accuracy and ballistic performance.

Despite meeting the Spetsnaz technical requirement, the 9×39 came at a prohibitive price, which at times restricted availability and live-fire training for some less specialized units. Naturally, these problems did not affect training and deployment of the cartridge in the hands of the FSB. However, TsNIITochMash attempted to economize production of the 9×39 AP (Armored Piercing) cartridge with a new version designated the PAB-9. This cartridge featured projectiles with a stamped steel core, instead of a machined steel core as in the SP-6. The result was unsatisfactory accuracy and performance, and the PAB-9 was officially withdrawn from service. It does appear out of storage from security agencies from time to time, and some sales to foreign groups. The trajectory of a subsonic bullet is anything but flat, so an operator must know dopes calibrated to a 9×39 calibrated optic, such as the PSO-1-1 and the PSO-1M2-1.

Clones

Increased attraction to Russian firearms in the last few years comes from the more publicized use by Russian Special Operations and Airborne units in the Chechen conflicts, Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. Slagga Manufacturing, LLC, out of Connecticut is planning to develop a clone of the VSS with the AS Val, and SR-3M options are also planned to share the same receiver.

Slagga Manufacturing states that they are “still experimenting with materials,” though the receiver and most components will most likely be from 4140 steel. The stock will be plywood, though a walnut option will be available. The receiver will be milled with welded receiver rails. The bolt carrier will most likely be cast to accommodate the internal cam grooves. However, Slagga Manufacturing has “been playing with the idea of DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering).” Slagga Manufacturing plans to start with the 9×39; however, there are plans to construct versions in 7.62×39 and .300BLK. After heat treatment, the majority of parts will be Cerakoted. All mechanical parts will be machined and cast oversized slightly, then individually fitted to ensure perfect tolerances. The weapon will be a 1:1 clone with the exception of the auto selector. The weapon will have a quick-detach suppressor and stock for easy take down, and the side receiver rail will be compatible with SVD optics. Magazines for 10 and 20 rounds will be available.

AS Val Rifle

The AS Val is nearly identical to its sibling, the VSS. The discernible difference is the folding stock. The AS Val is an integrally suppressed, gas-operated, select-fire rifle, operating with a long-stroke gas piston. The weapon is locked using a rotating bolt with six locking lugs. The AS Val has a floating hammer and features a cross-bolt-type fire selector switch located in the trigger guard behind the trigger. The weapon has a right-handed fixed charging handle and an AK-style safety. As the weapon is integrally suppressed, the barrel extends to 12cm long; the porting consists of six rows of nine holes spiraling along the rifling grooves. The twist rate is 1:8.3 inches. Each port is approximately 2mm in diameter. These ports further reduce velocity before the projectile enters the suppressor baffles, producing a muzzle velocity of 920 to 960 feet per second. Though designed at TsNIITochMash, production began at the Tula Arms Plant (Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod or TOZ).

In Russian military service, “specialized weapons” have lower acceptable requirements for testing. Operators have reported that the VSS stops functioning if submerged in water. The waterlogged firing pin channel provides resistance against the hammer. The reliability of the VSS is measurably lower than the Kalashnikov assault rifle and therefore has limited mission parameters. However, within those parameters, the AS Val and VSS have carved a niche that has allowed them to survive in the Russian battle space for years to come.

The Concept

Two Soviet engineers, V. Krasnikov and P. Serdyukov, began work on this concept as early as the 1970s at the TsNIITochMash, a special weapons development plant outside of Moscow working on the cutting edge to this day. Despite starting work on these special applications weapon a decade prior, it was not until 1983 that the design took concrete form and could begin constructive development. The working name was Vintorez, which translates to “The Threadcutter.” For ideal suppression, the design used an intermediate caliber with optimal subsonic characteristics. The first experimental chambering in the 1970s was in 7.62 “УС” (meaning reduced speed).

By the mid-1980s, Soviet authorities demanded that the project be able to defeat the rising trend of individual body armor, something for which the 7.62 chambering was not up to task. Per the technical requirement issued by the Kremlin, the round was required to penetrate Soviet-class 3 body armor at a range of 400 meters. Shortly thereafter, TsNIITochMash’s Specialized Ammunition Plant started converting the widely known M43 casing (7.62×39) and necking up to 9mm, to increase the projectile’s ballistic coefficient at subsonic speeds. The increased mass of the projectile aids’ stabilization in subsonic flight. The new cartridge achieved a muzzle velocity of roughly 920 to 960 feet per second from almost an 8-inch barrel. The project was led by engineers N. Zabelin, L. Dvoryaninova and Y. Frolov. Their resulting 9×39 cartridge had sufficient subsonic performance for special-purpose, silenced firearms with intermediate range and with improved penetration capable of defeating personal body armor.

The 9×39 cartridge has two primary variants—the SP-5 and SP-6 (“SP” standing for “Special Cartridge” in Russian). The SP-6 projectile, for example, is rated to defeat GOST (State Standard) Class 3 armor, which is a Russian armor class that falls between NIJ Level IIIA and Level III. These levels are rated to stop the domestic M43 7.62×39 and 7N6 5.45×39 rounds.

In 1987, the Vintorez project was designated the “VSS” (Vintovka Snaiperskaya Spetsialnaya or Special Sniper Rifle). Serial production of the VSS began at the well-known Tula Arms Plant (TOZ). Interestingly, the Vintorez was tested in the United States in 1997 with an invitation by the U.S. government to the TsNIITochMash company to test out their products before tensions rose once again between the two countries. The weapon’s effectiveness was demonstrated in numerous actions, including both Chechen wars, the Georgia Conflict and in the ongoing wars in Eastern Ukraine and Syria; each time, bringing the U.S. intelligence community’s renewed interest in studying the weapon’s performance in new environments and applications. The VSS and the other 9×39 weapons show a significant threat with their ammunition capability and performance.

The Construction

The VSS is an integrally suppressed, gas-operated, select-fire rifle. It operates with a long-stroke gas piston, the bolt has 6 locking lugs and is striker-fired with a floating hammer and features. The rifle features a cross-lever fire selector located behind the trigger. The weapon has a right-handed fixed charging handle and an AK-style safety. As the weapon is integrally suppressed, the barrel is ported in the spiraling rifle grooves in six rows of nine ports spiraling along the rifling grooves. The barrel extends to 12cm long, and the porting consists of six rows of nine holes spiraling along the rifling grooves. The twist rate is 1:8.3 inches. Each port is approximately 2mm in diameter. These ports further reduce velocity before the projectile enters the suppressor baffles, producing a muzzle velocity of 920 to 960 feet per second.

Overall, the design is exceptionally simple. The weapon can also be disassembled into a very compact unit with the stock and suppressor removed. Dismounting the suppressor from the firearm is done by depressing a small button latch on the front of the firearm’s frame. This reveals the ported portion of the barrel. The iron sights are attached to the suppressor itself.

The suppressor construction is a simple bent and angled, flat-face, oval-washer-type baffle stack made from spot-welded sheet metal. In total, there are three baffles. The sights are attached to the suppressor cover. The rifle is fed typically from a 10-round magazine but may run off the AS VAL 20-round magazine and even the newer 30-round magazine. A left-side AK-type optics rail allows for the mounting of the Russian PSO-1-1 or newer PSO-1M2-1 sniper scope, both of which are calibrated for 9×39. It also can use night sights or collimator sights.

The Vintorez is lightweight, just under 6 pounds and comparable to the AKS-74U in weight. The receiver is very low-profile due to the striker-fired design, allowing for a reduced overall height. Like the AKS-74U, the weapon is well-balanced, easy to manipulate and reportedly accurate for a designated marksman rifle. The newest VSS iteration is the VSSM, which incorporates an M1913 railed dust cover and includes M1913 rails onto the bottom and both sides of the suppressor. It also features an adjustable stock. These features bolster the weapon’s modularity, providing force multipliers to the designated marksmanship role, such as infrared lasers and illumination for night operations. These recent additions ensure that the VSS Vintorez will be a Russian hallmark on the modern battlefield for decades to come.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Philip H. Dater and Dan Shea did extensive testing and analysis of the 9×39 and the VSS in the 2007-2009 era and presented the information in SADJ and SAR. That information is on our website.

Tucked away in the opening plains where the Caucasus Mountains finally meet the sprawling, almost infinite, flat landmass of Eurasia, the city of Gudermes stands in an alcove of Russia just shy of the Caspian Sea. Here, oil, sturgeon and centuries of bad blood transit eternally from East to West, and threats old and new persist in an uneasy lull. Here is where the current head of the autonomous Chechen Republic in Russia, Ramzan Kadyrov, built the Russian University of Spetsnaz, also known as the University of Special Forces, in a complex 22 miles east of Grozny. Grozny is the capital of this little republic, and as its name implies (formidable, menacing, threatening), it is a focal point of Russian state security and intelligence services and requires the attention of some the most proficient operators in the world. Ramzan’s father, Akhmad Kadyrov, the previous head of the Republic selected by Vladimir Putin to bring stability to the region after two wars, was assassinated in 2004 during a memorial parade in this city. The Kadyrov family knows firsthand the need for special training to maintain security.

The university Dean, Daniil Martynov, also serves as the deputy head of the Russian National Guard in Chechnya. Daniil Martynov served in the counter-terrorist unit of Federal State Security (FSB), known as A Detachment or Alfa Group. Martynov was formerly attached to FSB’s prestigious Centre for Special Operations, located near Moscow, until 2005. While with Alfa, he was deployed to Chechnya following the Second Chechen War.

The university acts as part classroom and part training site, bringing modern war-fighting tactics and scenarios to Russian military and law enforcement agencies. Classes include training for the personal protection detail of the Chechen head of state and SOBR (Special Rapid Response Unit) currently under the authority of the Russian National Guard. Some reports suggest that National Guard units train at the university to sharpen their skills prior to deployment to Syria.

The complex houses different specialty training areas, including urban, claustrophobic built-up cityscapes. Chechnya learned through their conflicts (1994-1996 and 1999-2000—counter insurgency operations lasting until 2009) the need to train in urban environments. The UN named Grozny the most destroyed city on earth during the wars. Modern urban warfare takes many forms and negates technical advantages one side may have. Movement and visibility are often limited. Clear lines of fire and proper identification melt away. Today, conflict in Chechnya and bordering regions is mostly made up of low-scale surgical strikes against radical Islamic terrorist organizations, relying heavily on special forces for which this university was founded.

Touring the University

I was lucky enough to visit this site, and to my knowledge, I was one of very few Westerners to visit in December 2018. I traveled across the globe to this Republic, which had very little in common with my home. Arriving in Grozny on a cold afternoon, I was directed to a black SUV for a drive to my housing arrangements. The next morning, the same crew collected me for transport to the special forces university. Touring the complex, I could see the urban combat training grounds. It was clear they had a number of structures reminiscent of previous combat operations conducted by Russian forces throughout history. Structures had multiple levels, subterranean spaces, underground crosswalks, over-road bridges, basements, classic Communist Bloc apartment towers and concrete brick upon concrete brick. The apartment bloc had an open-floor model on one floor, so that the walls may be moved to practice a specific layout. Three brick houses reminiscent of local 1950s and 1960s construction stood nearby. Another interesting observation was the incorporation of tunnels between buildings and spider holes between rooms. The instructor pointed out that the highest multilevel structure had the Mil Mi-8 Hip military transport helicopter mounted upon the roof’s edge. This allowed students to replicate fast roping prior to training off of a functional rotary wing aircraft. The rooms of the urban environment have cameras to observe the progress of the students and to allow the control room to modify the environment. I observed a SOBR group of the National Guard conduct room clearing and shield entry training, launching from outdoor shooting bays.

The university was founded by a private company and hosts domestic and foreign military customers to use the complex in a vast array of modern war-fighting scenarios. Highly skilled senior officers from the Russian military, police and National Guard with experience serving in tactical groups within Alfa, Vympel, the GRU and SOBR oversee the course programs and offer a wide spectrum of field experience. They were quick to show their proficiency and professionalism during my visit. There were 38 instructors at the time of my visit, though the program is seeking 70 instructors to keep unit class sizes small. On average, classes have up to 12 students, with six students per instructor.

New Training Developments

The university is currently constructing a maritime training area, complete with a concrete-contained lake upon which a ship will be placed for maritime, air assault, insertion and extraction training. Getting in and out quickly is critical for special operations that are launched from the land, sea and air, and this training zone will give broader training capabilities to the campus. Other specialty training areas include wooded and mountainous terrain near the facility; a deactivated airliner is also planned for training in hijacking scenarios. Off-site, students can practice on stationary or moving trains. The main building houses classrooms, bedrooms, a gym, a running track, an indoor shooting range and a pool designed for underwater shooting. The university is constructing a 1600m runway and several helipads. In the future, the university will have its own air traffic control tower and serve as its own airport for airborne operations. Three hangers will be built to house the aircraft and conduct maintenance.

The campus has a complete buggy fabrication shop, housed in three buildings. The in-house fabrication team modifies and repairs the Chaborz M-3 and the adaptable M-6 fast tactical light combat buggies, which can be rapidly configured for different operational requirements. The Russian Ministry of Defense has shown interest in acquiring these vehicles for the Russian Armed Forces, and they have already been deployed to the Arctic as well as to combat operations in Syria.

In the center of the campus, across from the main building, is the largest free-fall wind tunnel complex in Russia. At 5 meters wide, the tower and adjacent schoolhouse make up the largest parachute training center in Russia. The jump school on site is called DZ Grozny. The airborne school houses classrooms, packing/rigging rooms, shops, a cafe, a hotel with 63 rooms, saunas and a control room.

Offered Courses and Instruction

The university also provides courses on combat lifesaving and advanced first aid, as well as on explosives, demolition, tactical driving, dog handling and countless others.

The backbone of instruction is experience in combat and service with Russian special forces; however, the university seeks to implement a forward-looking methodical approach to instruction, taking the latest techniques on biomechanics and warfighting. Once construction is complete, the university will accommodate a total of 500 people at a time. Officers hope it will be the Chechen version of the U.S. JFK Special Warfare Center and will provide comparable excellence in training for Russian security and law enforcement entities.

Research History

TsNIITochMash, better known in English as the Central Research and Development Institute of Precision Machine Engineering, has a distinguished history of research and development in specialized cartridges and weaponry. In 1994, the little compound in the suburbs of Moscow started work on a prototype Vikhr, or Whirlwind, based around the institute’s home-designed cartridge, the 9×39. The project was originally designated as “MA Vikhr,” or at times “AM,” and was led by the designer trio of A.D. Borisov, V.N. Levchenko and A.I. Tyshlykov. The MA designation should not be confused with the Dragunov MA and the Kalashnikov Concern AM-17, which share this moniker. The MA/AM abbreviation is used to describe a small-sized Small Caliber Automatic rifle, or compact assault rifle. Serial production of the Vikhr commenced in 1996, named the rifle the SR-3 in fulfillment of the state request, with the FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs quickly adopting the design in the same year.

TsNIITochMash designed the 9×39 per Spetsnaz requirements issued from the Soviet Ministry of Defense in the prior decade. They produced a subsonic cartridge for special purpose weapons designed for intermediate range, with improved penetration and stopping power against armored targets. Testing at the KSPZ Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant yielded a muzzle velocity of 925-958 feet per second with the 250-260 grain SP-5 and SP-6 projectiles (SP-Special Cartridge). Soviet designers developed improved subsonic ammunition based on the 7.62×39 case, necked up to 9mm. To achieve stability at subsonic velocity, TsNIITochMash loaded these cartridges with heavier projectiles. The SP-5 was loaded with standard ball rounds with a lead core and was intended for accurate sniper work out to 300-400 meters. The SP-6 cartridge featured an armor-piercing projectile with a machine-hardened steel core. This round could defeat all common levels of body armor up to 300-400 meters. Some reports suggest the round has successfully defeated body armor out to 500 meters, though this is outside the design parameters and has little official documentation. In current Russian deployment, the round is used against a target at no more than 300 meters to give sufficient accuracy and ballistic performance.

In mid-1997, TsNIITochMash was invited to the United States with some of their innovative products, to be tested and evaluated by some U.S. Military and Government agencies. The Vikhr or SR-3 was one of the weapons brought over, delivering an overall flawless and highly effective performance and gaining a lot of interest for the Russian 9X39 caliber.

Despite meeting the Spetsnaz technical requirement, the 9×39 came at a prohibitive price, which at times restricted availability and live-fire training for some less specialized units. Naturally, these problems did not affect training and deployment of the cartridge in the hands of the FSB. However, TsNIITochMash attempted to economize production of the 9×39 AP (Armored Piercing) cartridge with a new version designated as the PAB-9. This cartridge featured projectiles with a stamped steel core, instead of a machined steel core as in the SP-6. The result was unsatisfactory accuracy and performance, and the PAB-9 was officially withdrawn from service. It does appear, however, out of storage from security agencies from time to time.

The SR-3

The SR-3 was designed to fill the role of a submachine gun with distinguished armor piercing capability. It can be fitted with a silencer increasing the overall package length, though it is not typically seen with the suppressor affixed. This is because the weapon will cycle subsonic ammunition without a suppressor, a unique trait as most weapons will not function with subsonic rounds without the additional back pressure that a suppressor provides.

The SR-3 was built based on the VSS/AS Val weapon system, keeping to the closed bolt, gas operation and six multi-lug rotating bolt. The advantage of the six multi-locking lug bolt design in the case for subsonic ammunition such as the 9×39, is reduced rotation of the bolt to lock and unlock. This increases the locking lug surface area, reducing the amount of gas required to operate the weapon without a suppressor. Reducing the time required to lock and unlock also provides a high rate of fire. The gas block is mounted just forward of the chamber, giving maximum back pressure and expansion to operate subsonic ammunition properly. The weapon uses a floating hammer, which is a hammer with a separate spring assembly apart from the main spring and is held in place by the sear. This design is reminiscent of an open-bolt weapon.

SR-3 Modernized

In current production, the SR-3M (Modernized), utilizes an ambidextrous charging handle moved from the top of the handguard to the right side of the bolt carrier, resembling a Kalashnikov. Unlike the SR-3, which has an ambidextrous safety similar to the Heckler & Koch MP-5 selector and a separate selector, just behind the trigger, the modernized design used a simple lever safety in the right side of the receiver. This also simplified construction of the VSS series and allowed for easier cross training from the standard issue AK-74M. Without a left-side ambidextrous safety, an enhanced side optics rail was added. Additionally, a further updated SR-3MP is fitted with M1913 rails on the left and right sides of the rifle, forward of the handguard, for use with mountable lights and infrared devices. The rifle features a two-position rear sight and a front sight adjustable for windage and elevation. A button on the left side of the front sight block deploys and locks the vertical foregrip. A separate button on the bottom of the front sight block is used to attach or remove a suppressor.

Each SR-3M is issued with a serialized suppressor matched to the weapon. It is a three-piece, baffle core with a cover and end cap. The stock was standardized on the side folding AS Val stock, away from the top folding prototype variant, similar to an SR-2. The SR-3MP stock can be flipped downward and attached to the bottom of the pistol grip, allowing the stock to not obstruct a face shield. An M1913 rail on top of the dust cover allows for the use of optics and red dot sights, without the need of a side rail mount.

The SR-3 uses a common magazine to the VSS, Val and the new Kalashnikov AMB-17. SR-3M magazines, however, are uniquely stamped with the parent rifle’s name, while other magazines are not. The rifle uses 10- and 20-round magazines, though a steel 30-round magazine is in circulation. The newest magazines are 30 rounds and polymer and were designed for the newest ASM (special automatic rifle modernized) Val 6P30M as of 2018.

Overall, the Vikhr concept is unique and adequately achieves the goal of creating a subsonic, hard hitting and highly compact package. When firing the rifle, it is easy to see how controllable its automatic fire can be in no small part due to its ergonomics. It is still a shock to see how it handles subsonic ammunition with ease on automatic fire without a silencer. This is a Russian rifle that will continue to see dramatic mission sets in the coming years and be a quick identifier for Russian elite forces.

There has been a resounding boom in popularity of suppressors in recent years. They have become less the stuff of secret agents and more the stuff of sport shooters, hunters, standard-issue gear for military personnel and law enforcement. Their tactical advantage on the battlefield and practical application in shooting have crossed a threshold. More producers are simply making more quality products at more accessible prices, and this is an undeniably good thing for special operators and weekend plinksters alike.

While there is still some squabbling about proper terminology, mostly used to arrogantly put down the less experienced, the article in question is generally referred to by the shooting community as a “sound suppressor.” Silencers obviously do not silence a weapon’s operation, and those who refer to them as such usually get their terminology from Hollywood or the National Firearms Act of 1934. As much as suppressor gurus cringe at the use of the word “silencer,” it is the language used by Federal law, as regulated under Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and was coined by Hiram Percy Maxim, himself. For this reason, this author has never really worried about the terminology and just enjoyed the suppressor/silencer for what it is—a wonderful tool that adds another level of convenience and tactical practicality to the battlefield and the range. With the influx of usage during this suppressor renaissance, training is key for users to properly deploy their suppressor, as it is not like any other accessory.

This author had the pleasure to attend a tier one course operated by Dan Shea of Phoenix Defence. His company is well known to the U.S. Defense community, as well as to NATO and NATO-aligned nations. The course was organized as a seminar and was instructed by Dr. Philip H. Dater, MD. “Doc” Dater has over 50 years of experience in firearm suppression, including design and manufacturing. He is also an expert in firearm sound measuring techniques and pioneered the standardization of measuring procedures. Dr. Dater found this passion while filling the hours on-call as an overnight radiologist. In his spare time, he began to tinker with suppressors and successfully reproduced and improved upon existing designs. In the 1970s, he launched the Automatic Weapons Company (AWC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By 1994, he had left AWC and started Gemini Technologies (Gemtech) in Idaho with a team of professional designers. A man of many hats, Dr. Dater also created his own private consulting company, Antares Technologies, which works with other defense manufacturers and the U.S. government. His consultancy specialized on firearm and suppression testing with modern sound equipment, high speed photography and other technologies.

The Seminar

The seminar was filled with top tier representatives of a wide spectrum of three letter agencies from around the DC beltway and government design groups. Apart from tuning up on suppressor deployment, many were conducting research for product procurement and possible contract solicitation. The seminar instructors included pioneers in modern suppression who offered development workshops, testing procedures, and live-fire testing of many examples. Instructors walked participants through the basic principles of suppression, source of sound, acoustic characteristics, ballistic crack and flash suppression through proper suppressor design with optimal material construction. As a class, participants reviewed proper suppressor maintenance, cleaning and common problems encountered. We discussed, at length, the role of muzzle length and gas pressure, the role of suppressed pistols and recoil management and modern linear inertial decoupler design. These lectures were punctuated with high-speed photography and videos, which transformed more abstract concepts into concrete engineering problems, and ideally, solutions.

Doc also passed on an interesting look into craft-built expedient devices. These lectures were complimented by detailed examples in the history of suppressor developments. He elaborated on advantages and disadvantages of integral and mounted suppressors, baffles designs, including K and M baffles, and different construction materials in common use today, which in part, determine durability and service life and affect potential sound reduction. The seminar also addressed the persistent first-round pop problem, which challenges designers to this day. Of particular interest was the dissection of Soviet/Russian suppressed systems and specialty, reduced velocity ammunition, such as the 9×39 cartridge and the VSS rifle, and the role of captive piston ammunition.

Lesson Learned

The most valuable lesson from the course was the standardization of sound measuring procedures which Doc helped to develop and which private and government operators and instructors are able to bring back to their respective agencies. This author would highly recommend the seminar to any agency or individual looking to gain insights on next level suppressor deployment and development.

Contact Phoenix Defence for the next upcoming advanced suppressor seminar. The next course is waiting to be set.

phoenixdefence.com / 702-208-9375

For a brief 200-year period, the Pecheneg Khanate sprawled from Southern Trans-Carpathia across the Dnieper to Southern reaches of the Volga, occupying one of the most strategic swaths of land for trade between the Turkic and Slavic peoples. Ultimately, their history of fighting all their neighbors (the Slavs, the Byzantines and the Uzes, just to name a few) led to their demise and the division of their land. In backhanded admiration for the thorn in their side, monks in Kievan Rus’ described them as “the godless sons of Ishmael, who had been sent as a chastisement to the Christians.” The Pechenegs occupied one the most socially tumultuous territories of land, where religion, ethnicity and political systems all in violent competition with each other would intermingle, and upon which a bloody history would be set down that has persisted since 860 A.D. at the Khanate’s founding.

Heat shroud assemblies

I found myself within the boundaries of the Pecheneg Khanate in early December, now in the region known as Chechnya. The air in Chechnya is dry, saddled up in the mountains and valleys tucked between the Black and Caspian seas. The smell of soil and spiced shawarma inundates the streets. It is a place where the sun makes the faces hard and wrinkled before their time, and where religion permeates life not so much in devotion, but in identity. I was worried that my flannel and tactical pants would seem out of place in a region that has so little to do with my own home. This was not the case, and a quick change into a multicam jacket brought me into spec with everyone around me, all of whom were armed and likely connected with Russian intelligence. It is for this sort that the PKP Pecheneg was made. Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, means “fearsome,” and it witnessed some of the harshest city fighting the Russians have faced since the Second World War, as those age-old divisions of race and religion cannot seem to die.

Arriving at a pristine Spetsnaz training compound, the smell of fresh paint still in the air, an operator pulled a PKP out of the back of a camel-drab SUV and handed it to me. I carried the lug of steel to a wooden table engraved with “Spetsnaz 2018” and immediately got to work.

Heart of the beast

Like many other weapons in the Russian stable, the PKP Pecheneg was a development from the PK design of Mikhail Kalashnikov and his collective design team in 1958 as a 7.62x54R general-purpose machine gun. The original PK design was adopted in 1961 and was characterized by reliability and durability known to the Kalashnikov name. However, when designing the PKP, the goal was to improve the machine gun for increased sustained fire and incorporate the hard lessons learned from combat experience in Afghanistan, Chechnya and other fierce firefights in regional conflict zones. Soldiers of the new Russia needed to meet intense direct contact with the enemy with continuous sustained fire without a barrel change. The Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering of the Ministry of Defense at TsNIITochMash in the small Moscow suburb of Podolsk was up to the task. Their design was adopted in 2001 and entered production at the V.A. Degtyaryov Plant in the city of Kovrov in Russia’s Vladimir Oblast region. The design team chose to keep the PKM receiver and focus on creating a new barrel assembly with a heavy profile and improved temperature control. Cooling ribs and a slotted heat shroud run half the length of the barrel to increase the surface area. These slots pull air up from to the bottom of the barrel and use convection to wick off heat. The cooling ribs, the convection heat shroud and the enlarged barrel profile create impressive sustained fire capabilities. The barrel service life is noted to be 30,000 to 40,000 rounds.

Disassembled PKP

Allegedly, there are internal changes as well, but apart from a milled oval section on the right and left side of the receiver, I could not see a difference from a standard PKM. The changes resulted in a 2.5-pound increase to the 16.5-pound base weight of the PKM. Nonetheless, at 19 pounds, the gun is still lighter than the U.S. M-240B general-purpose machine gun and surpasses it in sustained fire. My Russian companions highlighted that the gun could allegedly run for 600 rounds continuously (at a rate of 600 rounds per minute) with no degradation to the barrel. Within an hour, including time for cooling, the PKP could fire 1,000 rounds.

The barrel assembly of the PKP is removed in the same fashion as that of its parent PKM machine gun. One lifts up the top cover and feed tray and pushes over the locking block to the left. Then the barrel can be pulled forward via the barrel carrying handle. In fact, a PKM barrel can be installed in the PKP and vice versa, but the headspacing must be aligned. The PK series has a feature on the barrel locking block to adjust headspacing. The adjustment window allows for headspacing changes as the barrel wears over extended service. Headspacing the PK series is determined by where the lip of the barrel meets the rim of the 7.62x54R cartridge. The locking block has a flat-head screw that turns clockwise or counterclockwise to index the barrel forward or rearward depending on the reading of headspace gauges. While the PKM is issued with two barrels matched to the weapon from the factory, the PKP is issued only with one that is not intended to be removed.

Barrel assembly

A bipod is fitted behind the front sight block of the PKP, and a new flash hider provides improved performance. ZenitCo designed a suppressor with two configurations, one long and one short, specifically for the PKP as part of their Pathfinder line. In the long configuration, the suppressor is fitted with an extended flash suppression chamber and flash hider end cap. The extended flash suppression chamber can be removed to reduce overall length and the end cap is placed onto the suppressor body. When the ZenitCo Pathfinder is used in the extended configuration, there is no visible flash, as has been extensively evidenced on night operations with night vision. The only drawback is that the suppressor requires sustained fire to be limited, so as not to destroy the can.

The GRAU (Russia’s Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense) indexes the PKP Pecheneg as 6P41 and 6P41N Pecheneg-N (night). The PKP was originally intended for Special Forces and mobile infantry, but it is currently fielded alongside the PKM in standard Russian Army applications.

As I held the 6P41N PKP, I noted that the weapon is slightly front-heavier than the PKM. This is natural, as the weight additions were almost solely in the barrel. Behind the PKP, one has a smaller window of traverse than with the PKM. On the PKM, the bipod is located behind the gas block, which allows for a wide sweeping angle and supports the weapon when the barrel is removed. On the PKP, the bipod is mounted forward, just behind the front sight block, forcing the shooter to adjust position more often.

6P41 optics mount

Based on the weapon’s success, newer versions are currently being tested. The ones that I photographed were the night version with side rails intended for night vision or any standard Soviet/Russian side mount optics. The side mount lever is spring-loaded and pulled back when an optic is mounted. This allows for the optic to swing out to the left, out of the way of the top cover for reloads. With no optics mounted, the reload procedure is the same as in the PKM. ZenitCo also offers M1913-railed top cover adapters, as well as additional accessories for both the PKM and PKP machine guns.

On the range

When firing, recoil is noticeably smoother than with the PKM, as the added mass helps to dampen the recoil impulse. The weapon can be fired while standing to address initial contact by placing the support hand on the gas tube. This is only viable for short bursts, as the gas tube becomes too hot to hold after 50 rounds and prone firing with a bipod becomes necessary. Some operators choose to use the weapon’s ammunition can as an expedient monopod. Seeing professionals handle the PKP is an impressive sight. In the hands of local operators, it looked as if the gun were floating in space, not reacting to firing. They were able to manipulate the ammunition can and reload the PKP in under 10 seconds.

On the range, using the can as a monopod to reduce the weapon’s profile

In total, I spent a week in Chechnya, and the cultural shock was immediate. I have spent quite some time in Russia prior to this adventure, but as those in Moscow have learned, Chechnya requires special consideration. Weapons—like food, art and clothing—can tell you about a people’s history and how they fit into the world. By naming the gun “Pecheneg,” Moscow harkens back to a time before the Russian state, to a more timeless conflict.

A High Performance SMG Despite Growing Pains

In 1993, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs requested a new pistol caliber submachine gun for law enforcement applications. Rule of law in the former Soviet Union continued to degrade, and special police units faced new threats from terrorism and organized crime. At the Izhmash Factory, Izhevsk, Russia, Victor Mikhailovich Kalashnikov, the son of the famed AK designer Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, went to the drawing board. He teamed up with another legacy constructor Alexei Dragunov, the son of Yevgeny Fedorovich Dragunov, the famed designer of the SVD. Together, the compact submachine gun PP-19 Bizon (Bison) was their answer.

The PP-19 Bizon and its successor, the PP-19-01 Vityaz (Knight) Version 10, are blowback operated, closed-bolt, select fire submachine guns of the Kalashnikov family. Bizon is distinguished by its unusual helical magazine. Depending on the variant, the magazine has a capacity of either 64 9×18 Makarov rounds or 54 9×19 NATO, respectively. The Bizon entered service in 1996 with special law enforcement units but reportedly saw little use.

Although the Bizon’s action was of sound design and lightweight, the magazine had reported issues with reliability. The magazines were not perfectly interchangeable between other guns as intended, meaning that each magazine matched its parent gun for proper feeding. This was added to the fact that they were already finicky in function. The unusual bulky dimensions of the helical magazines also required specially made pouches.

The layout of the Bizon used a newly designed receiver which was partially relieved at the bottom front and had altered and extended bolt guide rails to accommodate the helical magazine. The shortened dimensions cut out the standard side-folding locking mechanism known to the AKS-74 and its derivatives. The lock had to be redesigned to allow the stock to affix to the cross-trunnion barrel pin when folded. A sheet metal cover fit above the magazine, and the magazine itself served as the handguard. The standard AK triangle side-folding stock had a new securing plate riveted and spot welded to access the repositioned stock catch when folded. The gun also had a special trigger guard/magazine release with a flared housing for ease of magazine changes, a new shortened side optics mount and proprietary front trunnion and sight blocks. The 9mm barrel has a length of 8.9 inches and is threaded to a 14×1 left-hand thread for a cone style, bird cage type flash hider. The rear sight is a 50-100m leaf. The Bizon is said to be out of service while the Vityaz, with its more traditional submachine gun configuration, has been in widespread use with special units of all military branches and law enforcement agencies.

Vityaz PP-19-01

The Bizon’s younger brother, the Vityaz PP-19-01 was developed by Izhmash in 2004 and entered service in 2008. Since 2013, Concern Kalashnikov, Izhmash’s successor, has continued to manufacture it. The Vityaz was developed under supervision and by request from Sergei Lisuk, then commander of the famous ”Vityaz” tactical group—a special purpose unit of the Russian Interior Ministry. The correct literal Russian translation of the word “Vityaz” is a “Medieval heroic warrior-knight.”

The Vityaz is chambered in 9×19 NATO and uses the same blowback operation as the Bizon but with a traditional box magazine design, feeding from a 30rd polymer magazine with metal reinforced feed lips with stripper clip grooves. The magwell attaches to the standard AK trigger guard. The polymer magwell hooks into the receiver and is riveted to the mag release housing using a standard AK mag release rivet. The magazine housing also allows for a straight insertion, rather than a traditional AK rock and lock method. The submachine gun has a rate of fire of 700 to 750 rounds per minute and can fire a range of ammunition from standard 9×19 ball to the Russian armor piercing 7N21.

The receiver is an AK-74M parent receiver, reducing design time and total production costs from the earlier Bizon design. Without the need to accommodate the helical magazine, the receiver is shortened just in front of the magazine well. Like the Bizon, the shortened dimensions require the use of the same barrel pin set up to secure the folding stock.

The Vityaz uses a standard AK-100 series rear trunnion and a new dust cover hinged on the rear sight tower. The front trunnion is shortened as the blowback action of the gun does not require locking shoulders but rather relies on the mass of the bolt to delay the opening of the breech. Part of this mass is in the carrier stem, using the “gas tube” as a guide. The 9.5-inch barrel is threaded to 16×1 right-hand with a proprietary flash hider and a new front sight block using a standard front sight drum and post. The rear sights are graduated for either a 100m to 300m or a 50m to 200m leaf sight. The Vityaz uses a standard AK handguard retainer/hanger with the two internal keys milled off. The handguard, while visually similar to the AK-100 series, is a new design to accommodate the new front trunnion. The fire control group, however, are standard AK components and allow for safe, semi- and full-auto fire. The civilian market “Saiga-9” uses the same receiver as the Vityaz that’s taken off the military production line, complete with a three axis pins and a full-auto fire control group. However, Concern Kalashnikov makes the Saiga line of rifles semi-auto only by installing a semi-auto disconnector or sometimes a semi-auto safety in addition. The receiver markings are safe and semi-auto only. This is considered a legal modification for semi-auto-only restrictions in the Russian market. The Saiga-9 is also fitted with a 13.5-inch barrel due to the overall length requirements.

Vityaz-SN

The second iteration of the Vityaz is the Vityaz-SN (SN-Special Forces), Version 20. It has the same layout as the original with the addition of an M1913 rail-hinged dust cover. The M1913 rail-hinged dust cover is on both the civilian Saiga-9 and the military Vityaz-SN. However, the Vityaz-SN still retains the side optics mount. This is to allow Russian operators to use side-mounted optics, with which they have a preference or prior tactical experience. The newest iteration is the Vityaz-MO, which is essentially the same weapon as the SN but with a suppressor. The Vityaz-MO was presented at the Army-2018 International Military-Technical Forum range day; although close investigation revealed that it was a Vityaz-SN with a Zenitco suppressor. The gasses ejecting out of the recoil spring’s assembly hole in the dust cover were enough to make the toughest shooters tear up. A recoil assembly gasket to reduce the gasses exiting the rear of the dust cover would be a major improvement.

Overall, the Vityaz is not a revolutionary design but honors its Kalashnikov lineage through practicality. For comparison, the Vityaz at 6.39 pounds is slightly heavier than the H&K MP5, which ranges from 4.4 to 6.8 pounds depending on the variant. The MP5 is an outstanding submachine gun, but the Vityaz outperforms it in simplicity of operation and construction. It is cheaper to manufacture and easier to maintain in the field and throughout its service life. This was accomplished by reducing the total system components and designing a simplistic blowback operation, when compared to the somewhat more complex roller-delayed blowback H&K system. Additionally, one notable advantage of the Vityaz over the MP5 is the ability to insert a loaded magazine with the bolt forward. On the MP5 this action is difficult and requires the bolt to be drawn rearward for both tactical reloads and when the magazine is empty.

While the Vityaz also does not have a bolt-hold-open mechanism, it still eliminates this extra step in the manual of arms and produces increased efficiency in reloading over the MP5.

Despite these advantages, the Vityaz/Saiga-9 design is far from perfect. The Russian factory-issued operators’ manual states that the submachine gun is not serviceable after 7000 rounds. After this relatively small round count, charging handles have broken off and receiver damage at times has rendered the weapon non-operational. One persistent issue with the current Vityaz is the bolt. The bolt channels engaging the bolt guide rails have excessive slop. This enables the bolt to bounce up when it hits the full-auto sear, and over time this specifically damages the right bolt guide rail. This oscillation is known to break the spot welds from the right side rail to the receiver. The fix from the factory was simple. They added a rivet in the hinged top cover to keep the bolt from bouncing up when the bolt was moving rearward or forward. The viability of this match is still being evaluated.

In summary, having shot a few Vityaz and not personally having witnessed or experienced any of the weapon’s design shortcomings I can see why the Vityaz is a favorable submachine gun option. The Vityaz is at its dawn, and the high volume of civilian, military and police orders suggest a long service life despite growing pains in its current form.

With the Bolshevik victory in 1922 bringing the cold and bloody Russian Civil War to a close, the multitude of Soviet directorates on defense and engineering scrambled to lay out the future socialist weapons manufacturing systems to rearm the Red forces with the technological advances of the young 20th century. For modern designs, the Tula Weapons Factory created a sub-organization for new designs and prototype drafting at the KBP Instrument Design Bureau. This department managed to survive the turmoil of both the Second World War and the collapse of the Soviet Union and continues to create weapons to face the Kremlin’s enemies in the new Russia. Along the way, it has witnessed the careers of many designers come and go, been decorated with a litany of Communist-era orders and medals and introduced prolific designs such as the TT pistol series, the Gsh-18 and an entire suite of anti-aircraft systems, like the Pantsir-S1. Now a joint-stock company, KBP has become one of the largest military arms suppliers in the Russian Federation. Modern rocket systems set aside, the most famous weapon from KBP in the hands of the modern Russian warfighter is arguably the PP-2000, a unique personal defense weapon (PDW) style submachine gun, and a design that gives the more conventional Vityaz design a real run for its money.

Development began in 2000 with two designers out of Tula, each with their own Soviet-era accolades. Arkady Georgievich Shipunov was a talented man with a sullen glaze over his eyes, but he hid behind his squinty gaze a lifetime of work that earned him the highest civilian honor in the Soviet Union: Hero of Socialist Labor. Shipunov got his start at TsNIITochMash in Klimovsk, but by 1962 he had earned his place as the General Designer and Head of the Tula Instrument Design Bureau (KBP).

At KBP, Shipunov worked with Vasiliy Petrovich Gryazev, another prolific designer with 38 weapon designs, 76 publications and extensive experience working in aviation, naval and small arms ammunition design. Gryazev was a near-replica of Shipunov—down to the matching hairlines—and together they made a formidable team in modern Russian weapons design, as exemplified by the GSh-18, which was named after them.

The rise in terrorism prompted KBP to seek a simple weapon for specialist forces, including the police—also known in Russia as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD)—and special tactical groups of the armed forces. Over a six-year development cycle, the two produced a compact submachine gun chambered in 9×19 NATO that easily filled the role of a personal defense weapon and was similar in size to the Czechoslovakian vz. 61 Škorpion. With its ease of manipulation, control layout and low weight of a little over three pounds, the PP-2000 is commonly seen in the hands of close security details and rapid response teams.

The firearm uses a simple and reliable delayed blowback closed bolt operating system which relies on the weight of the bolt to delay the opening of the breech until the pressure in the barrel has dropped to safe levels. On the left side, the gun has a three-mode selector from semi to full-auto as well as the magazine release.

The gun has an ambidextrous reciprocating charging handle above the barrel, nesting behind the front sight in a similar way to another KBP design: the PP-90M1. The PP-90M1’s charging handle was itself reminiscent of that of the Heckler and Koch G36, capable of flipping to the left or right. Distinctively, the gun’s magazine well is in the pistol grip, as on an SR-2 or Uzi. A vertical foregrip is connected to the pistol grip, creating an enlarged trigger guard, ideal for gloves and adding rigidity to the polymer frame of the lower receiver.

The weapon is disassembled by pulling a plunger down inside the vertical foregrip, which frees the lower receiver from the steel upper receiver and barrel. The front sight is adjustable for both windage and elevation, and the barrel has a non-removable birdcage-style flash hider integrated into the front sight block. The PP-2000 has a fixed rear sight recessed in the M1913 rail along the top of the receiver.

For accessories, the PP-2000 also has a light mount that attaches to the inside of the vertical grip. Manufacturing literature suggests the gun can accommodate an optional suppressor, but no photos are available. On the left side of the lower receiver is a single sling loop. ZenitCo offers a laser mount that attaches to the top of the M1913 rail with a recess to allow for the use of iron sights as well as a white light that mounts to the bottom of the foregrip. Originally, the design used a spare 44-round magazine in place of a stock. The use of the 44-round magazine was replaced in development with a traditional right side folding wire stock. However, 44-round magazine stocks are still in the inventory and fielded by Russian security forces. Both the 44-round and 20-round magazines feature heavily texturized floorplates for use as the butt plate if the magazine is used as the stock. The trigger is slightly bowed, with a long trigger bar located on the left side of the lower receiver which connects the trigger in front of the magazine well to the trigger hook. A disconnector sits on the left, while the auto sear sits on the right side of the receiver to correspond to the sear trip on the bolt. The hammer has a distinct “Y” shape and contacts an angled spring-loaded firing pin. The recoil spring assembly is in line with the charging handle.

The submachine gun was designed to utilize standard ball 9×19 NATO and high-velocity +P+ armor-piercing ammunition, such as the 7N21 and 7N31 with a muzzle velocity of 1,510 to 1,970 feet per second, with sufficient armor penetration within 50 meters. The gun runs at a rate of fire of 750 to 800 rounds per minute, with an effective range of 100 meters and 200-meter maximum range. From the factory, a few quality control and design issues have been reported. The thin polymer frame, despite attempts to strengthen the design, is prone to cracking at the bottom behind the pistol grip; this is something I’ve seen on deactivated models. The small low-profile rear sight and the uncomfortable wire stock make effective cheek weld difficult and contribute to the gun slipping during continuous fire. Due to the short bolt travel and abrupt bolt stop against the rear of the receiver, the recoil impulse is sharp when compared to other submachine guns but manageable with experience.

Having shot the PP-2000, I can attest that it is ideal for close quarters or when driving a vehicle. Its lightness and controllability are well-balanced, while its safety and fire controls were clearly well thought out. However, the 20-round magazines run empty quickly under its high rate of fire. Operators often prefer the 20-round magazine as it improves the concealability of the weapon, but sources familiar with the application of the PP-2000 in Russia’s Spetsnaz comment that the stock is by far the biggest issue in the weapon’s design and the only trait needing immediate improvement. Overall, the weapon is a pleasant shooter, particularly in semi-automatic fire, with outstanding ease of handling, and it will likely continue in service with Spetsnaz units.