Quite recently, just last year, at the military-technical exhibition Army 2016, for the first time a new infantry weaponry was demonstrated, among which the PKK 16, a new light machine gun from the Kalashnikov family, enjoyed particular attention.
It should be noted that the Kalashnikov concern has recently become one of the few defense enterprises that regularly tries to demonstrate new types of small arms. In most cases, these are fundamentally new models, differing not only in their appearance, but also having sufficiently high tactical and technical data. According to the director of the concern Alexei Krivoruchko, new weapons have already been approved by experts of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and have been tested in field conditions.
The general director of the Kalashnikov concern also did not forget to mention that in the near future the concern expects the receipt of an application from the military for the supply of the first experimental batch. At the exhibition "Army 2018" it was announced about the start in 2018 of the serial production of a new army machine gun, which will be launched at the end of pilot military operation.
What can surprise the new PKK-16?
During the exhibition, there were opinions of military experts and experts in the field of small arms that the new PKK machine gun is a novelty from a technical point of view. In spite of the fact that the automatic weapon was created under the well-known military cartridge of 5.45x39 caliber for the military, the machine gun has a fundamentally new scheme. 5.45mm caliber cartridges have long been used in the army, being the main ammunition for AK-74 assault rifles and RPK -74 machine gun.
The new machine gun of the Kalashnikov RPK-16 family was created by the concern designers on an initiative basis, who tried to use the achievements obtained as a result of creating other types of automatic weapons: AK-12, AK-400 and AK-400 machine gun. According to the Russian gunsmiths, the light machine gun of a new design should replace the RPK-74 machine gun, which has been in service with the Russian Army for more than 40 years. Particular emphasis is placed on using the new model to equip the forces of special operations. The real proof of this is the versatility of the design. The machine gun can be equipped with short and long barrels. The shortened barrel for a light machine gun has become a definite innovation for domestic models of automatic small arms.
For example, the length of the new Kalashnikov 16 machine gun with a short barrel and with a folded butt is only 651 mm. In full combat gear, a long barrel and unfolded butt, the machine gun has a length of more than one meter (1076 mm).
Like the previous model RPK-400, the new model was designed to meet the competitive requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The main consumers for whom the new model of the machine gun was created are units of the Russian Guard, special units of the Special Operations Center of the Federal Security Service and the Presidential Security Service.
Description of the combat use of the new model of automatic weapons clearly defines its scope of use. The main combat mission is the use against manpower and the destruction of hotbeds of resistance in the cramped state of urban development and indoors during special operations. The machine gun must provide additional fire power to the forces of special operations and create a high density of fire to support the assault units.
According to the designers of the machine gun, the Russian version should become an analogue of the American platoon light machine gun M249 and the Belgian model FN Minimi 5.45x45 mm. The American machine gun and its Belgian counterpart have good firepower. In terms of compactness, mobility and technical equipment, foreign samples are significantly superior to the Soviet and Russian RPK-74, created on the basis of the AK-74.
For reference: The American M249 and the Belgian FN Minimi can use for the supply of ammunition, as a metal tape, and box-shaped removable stores. In addition to all the machine guns are equipped with removable barrels and have a handle for quick and easy carrying.
Russian gunsmiths decided to abandon the combined method of food, preferring a drum-type store. In this aspect, the Kalashnikov concern used the experience and achievements of foreign arms firms. In some details, the tactical and technical characteristics of the Russian version coincide with the Austrian machine gun Steyr AUG LMG and the Chinese QBB-95. In firepower, the Kalashnikov machine gun of the 2018 model significantly surpasses the Austrian and Chinese models, slightly yielding to the American M249 light infantry machine gun.
Design features of the RPK-16 machine gun
It is not known for what reason Russian gunsmiths refused to double the type of power. The previous version of the RPK-400 had such an opportunity. The machine gun could be equipped with a rozhkovy shop from an AK machine gun and from RPK-74 light machine guns. In the new model for the supply of ammunition used drum shops, designed for 96 rounds caliber 5.45Х39 mm. Also, the machine gun could use the old machine gun horn shops for 30 rounds and machine gun horns from the RPK-74 for 45 ammunition.
The main features of the design of the new light machine gun are the following components:
- mounted on the roof of the receiver sector sight with aperture entirely;
- front sight of a machine gun mounted on a gas block;
- the barrel muzzle brake compensator taken from the AK-400 automatic carbine;
- light machine gun equipped with a folding left butt with a telescopic base.
New sector sight allows you to quickly provide accurate guidance even under conditions of limited illumination. The front sight mounted on the gas block allows the use of a machine gun for firing and rifle grenades. The telescopic folding butt resembles in its design the equipment of American automatic rifles AR-15/16 and M14.
Additionally, the Kalashnikov type 2018 light machine gun is equipped with a silencer or a low-noise firing device (PMS). Thanks to this device, not only is the sound effect of the shots reduced, but the intensity of the flash of the shot is also reduced. With such equipment, the machine gunner can secretly conduct automatic fire, use a machine gun to fire the unit in the cramped conditions of limited space.
For the new model, the technical ability to replace the barrel has become a characteristic feature. Now the machine gunner can independently re-equip the weapon for firing, depending on the combat need. The long barrel, as a rule, is used for tactical purposes, a short barrel may be useful for conducting assault special operations.
Forecasts
Summing up, we can conclude that the Kalashnikov RPK-16 light machine gun is another attempt to get a universal combat small arms. However, the versatility that underlies the design, played a cruel joke with the new machine gun. The new model was eventually another modification of existing military weapons.
Combat weight RPK-16 is 4 kg. The rate of fire of a machine gun is 700 rounds per minute. For these parameters, the new machine gun has no analogues. In addition, a low recoil coefficient significantly improves the accuracy of fire and accuracy. The new machine gun is distinguished from RPK-74 by improved ergonomics and technical ability to change the barrel.
In all other respects, the new model does not meet Western standards. The lack of dual power is, according to military experts, the main drawback of the new model. Moreover, in the armies of other countries, the equipment of machine guns with drum-type stores has not been practiced for a long time. Replaced barrels for most small arms overseas have not been new for a long time.
It should be said separately about the drum shop, which holds 96 rounds. Large capacity provides long firing and frees the arrow about the need for frequent reloading. Bribes and unification of the new machine gun under the conventional combat cartridge caliber 5.45 x 39 mm, which in the army and in warehouses is available in sufficient quantities.
The further fate of the Kalashnikov family of light machine guns depends on the opinion of military experts. During military operational tests, the effectiveness of combat use in various combat conditions, as well as the possibility of normal operation of weapons in the army, should be tested.
