Director of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, which serially produces weapons under the Kalashnikov brand, Vladimir Grodetsky said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that next year state tests of a new 200-series assault rifle based on the AK-74M would begin … At the same time, he added that small arms are the most conservative - a new generation appears every few decades. Little is known about the new machine so far. In 2009, the general director of the Rosoboronexport company, Anatoly Isaikin, said that the new model would replace the Kalashnikovs of the “hundredth series”. In particular, the weapons of the 200 series will differ from the previous generation of assault rifles by 40-50 percent in terms of efficiency. According to Grodetsky, the new machine has a bar for attaching additional equipment - scopes, laser designators and a flashlight.
However, all these "bells and whistles", according to experts who have no labor relations with "Izhmash", do not greatly affect the effectiveness and accuracy of shooting. Russia has long had small arms that surpass the Kalashnikov-AEK-971, AN-94 "Abakan", "Vul" and "Val" submachine guns in these parameters, created at TsNIITOCHMASH. True, not one of them went serially to the troops, only individual parties were accepted into service in reconnaissance and special units. It is not profitable for the state and the army to re-equip troops with new models, it is too expensive. In addition, there are so many Kalashnikovs in warehouses that they will be enough for more than one war. There is another equally important reason. A more sophisticated weapon than an AK requires a professional attitude. And where to get such fighters? So there is a "Kalash" with various devices in service with our army for more than 50 years.
