In the early 1960s, the Soviet military found itself at a crossroads. The recently adopted Kalashnikov PK general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) has solved many problems by easing logistics and supporting a single machine gun type. Still, its adoption also revealed new tactical expectations: a single...
If you’re into Kalashnikov rifles, you probably miss the good old days. It has been a while since AK enthusiasts heard any good news about their hobby, and it seems that things are only getting worse every year: sanctions, tariffs, bans, and other troubles are constantly driving prices up a...
Shortly after the adoption of the Kalashnikov design in 1949, Soviet small-arms development found itself at a doctrinal crossroads. The AK emerged as the final survivor of a rigorous postwar rifle competition, and, in an odd twist, it was accepted despite not fully meeting the full-auto accuracy ...
The procurement of individual gear to support military, police, or civil defense has a long, convoluted, but necessary history. Choosing what gear best suits your needs becomes a balance of practicality and assumption. Whether you are riding a tractor, enforcing a warrant, or running the back hil...
Multi-projectile cartridges for anti-drone warfare are arguably the most rapidly developing type of small arms ammunition, with new options being introduced throughout the world at a frequency unseen before. Last week, we took a look at the latest multi-projectile cartridges developed in Russia, ...
I love the saying, “have your cake, and eat it too”. What if you had the capability and power of a hunting cartridge like the .308 for both eyes open close quarters shooting could very quickly switch to a LPVO (Low Power Variable Optic) with 7X magnification and hit out to 500 yards easily? W...
IWA 2026 and EnforceTac 2026 are just around the corner and if you visit the new product pages of their websites, you can get a sneak peek of what is going to be introduced at these exhibitions. One of these products that is interesting for the topic of this article is the new anti-dr...
In the mid-1950s, the Soviet high command accepted a compromise that would shape frontline infantry small arms for decades: prioritizing platform commonality over dedicated squad-level suppressive fire capability. That decision, formalized with the 1959 adoption of an AK-derived automatic rifle, ...
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 entered the Cold War as a swept-wing jet fighter that stunned Western planners and demonstrated its lethality in the skies over Korea. In this article, Peter Suciu examines how its advanced aerodynamics, heavy cannon armament, and combat performance against American ai...
In 2015, photographs and videos began circulating of several prototype rifle designs from the mid-2010s, chambered for an obscure experimental round, the 6x49, which was the Soviet Union's unified 6mm cartridge . The photos and videos show new developmental rifles chambered for the Soviet-er...