The history of the Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle, the most manufactured firearm in the world

@DefAviation ES 3·04·2023 · 21:31 0

Without a doubt, the most famous firearm in the world is the Soviet assault rifle Kalashikov AK-47, designed by Russian military and engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov.

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The AK-47 emerged in 1947, aesthetically inspired by the German Sturmgewehr 44. The AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947) was adopted as an assault rifle of the Red Army Ordinance in 1949. In the following decades, this weapon extended to the other countries of the Warsaw Pact and other communist dictatorships such as Vietnam of the North, China and North Korea, as well as to Third World countries, being very popular among guerrilla movements especially for its low cost and ease of handling.

the AK-47 and its modernized variant, the AKM, has been manufactured in several countries with different denominations , and variants with folding butt have also been made, mainly designed for paratrooper troops. Today it is difficult to calculate exactly how many AK-47 have occurred, but it is estimated that since its inception they have been manufactured between 75 and 80 million AK-47, reaching 100 million if we also count Kalashnikov rifles derived, such as AK-74.

the first time that the AK-47 was seen in action was during the Hungarian revolution of 1956. since then it has been used in tens of wars throughout the world. It is currently being used in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The always interesting Spanish channel Tropa Guripa has published a video about the history of this weapon and its characteristics (the video is in Spanish but it has subtitles in English, you can activate them in the lower bar of the player):

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Main photo: U.S. Army. A United States Marine with an AK-47 in the Novo Selo maneuvers field, in Bulgaria, on January 13, 2015.