Kalashnikov Concern affiliated to Rostec State Corporation and the Russian Ministry of Defense have signed a contract for equipping the armed forces with new 5.45 mm RPK-16 machine-guns. Aleksey Krivoruchko, Kalashnikov’s CEO, has confirmed this information. Machine-guns have earlier successfully passed testing in the army.
A multifunctional machine-gun RPK-16 combines features of a light machine-gun with an assault rifle. The gun structure makes it possible to replace the barrel. Thereby RPK-16 with a short barrel may be used as an assault rifle while a long barrel will turn it into a machine-gun.
A 95 cartridge magazine was designed specifically for the RPK-16, which is compatible with the Kalashnikov machine-gun. The machine-gun allows for high-performance single and short burst fire at a distance of up to 600 m and long burst and uninterrupted fire at a distance of up to 300 m. At that, the Kalashnikov gunfire rate makes 700 rounds per minute. The gun’s weight is 4.5 kg, which is only a half-kilo more than the standard АК-74М.
RPK-16 was first presented at the Army Exhibition in 2016, and its serial production is to start this year.
