The AK-47, officially known as Automatic Kalashnikov is a Soviet (now Russia) assault rifle.
It is named after its designer Mikhail Kalashnikov who started working on it in the early 1940s, while recovering from a battle wound.
As the rifle was adopted and standardized in 1947, that year🗓 got added to its name as a suffix.
It is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov rifle (or ‘AK’) family.
It is undoubtedly the most widely used shoulder weapon in the world.🌏
Reasons behind its Success
AK-47 is simple🙂 to operate and is reliable even under harsh conditions.
It can fire 600 rounds per minute and is capable of both semiautomatic and automatic fire.
Its low production costs💰 is the primary reason that it is now produced on a mass scale and is available across the world.
The Global weapon of choice
Even after seven decades, AK-47 and it’s variant models remain the most popular and widely used assault rifles in the world.
Along with the armed forces, they have long been the favoured weapon for many guerrilla movements, and insurgencies and terrorists throughout the world.
They have widely used in wars and conflicts in Vietnam, Afghanistan, former Yugoslavia among many others.
Its symbolic value is evident from the fact that the flag of Mozambique has an image of AK-47 on it.
Astonishing Figures
It is estimated that out of the estimated 50 crore firearms presently in use worldwide, about 10 crore😳 belong to the Kalashnikov family, 3/4ths of which are AK-47s.