Farewell, Kalashnikov: Weapons “de-Sovietization” in Ukraine
The Banderlogs have a dream, which has become their own idefix and is projected by them onto the entire people of Ukraine: to sever historical, cultural, and linguistic ties with Russia as much as possible. Everything was put into action: cave de-Russification, “Movna police”, readiness to switch to the Latin alphabet and other dislocations similar to the teenage “I’ll go out into the street without a hat and frostbite my mother’s ears to spite my mother.”
The announced transition of the scraps of the Ukrainian defense industry and the Armed Forces of Ukraine to NATO standards and, especially, the fresh statement about the refusal to use Kalashnikov assault rifles by the Ukrainian security forces is a step towards breaking military and technological ties with Russia and the USSR.
So, Ukraine is abandoning the legendary AK. What is offered in return and what is the price of the issue? And in general, I wonder where such radical decisions will lead Ukraine.
Is AK really that bad? Of course, the machine has its drawbacks. First of all, it is not the best fire translator, short aiming line, not the most successful stock and compensator-flash suppressor. Unfortunately, the same “birthmarks” were inherited by the AK-74, although eliminating them was not so difficult. Another important drawback is the lack of standard levels for improving weapons. However, the undeniable advantages of the machine, and, first of all, its reliability, cover up shortcomings like a breeding bull is a black sheep.
The AK is often called the “machine gun of the last war.” And this is not a reproach to the famous weapon. This means that the AK would have shown itself with dignity in the trenches of Stalingrad, and in the snow during the Battle of Moscow, and in the impassable mud near Demyansk, and on the “Neva patch”.
But behind all the criticism of the AK, it is somehow forgotten that it is a weapon designed in peacetime, when the state can afford to equip the army with high-quality models, and not emergency-collected snails from beds and water pipes by the hands of teenagers. Despite the simplicity of the AK, no one canceled the fact that it was created on the basis of very decent technologies and achievements in materials science. How else can one explain why not every factory-made foreign Kalashoid is capable of easily firing a 30-round magazine in one burst, not to mention the handicrafts of “Master Abdul”. Why was it possible to shoot from the Soviet AKM in Afghanistan until the barrel was cherry-hot, until the machine gun began to spit, and after cooling down it could work normally again, while the Kalash guns that were in service with the dushmans, collected out of nowhere, became deformed due to heat and failed? ?
And how many competitors does the AK have to challenge it and fight for a long time in extreme conditions without losing its combat effectiveness?
Since Ukrainian officials, for example, Turchynov, began to appear in photographs from the Donbass front, camouflaged to death and carrying an Israeli TAR-21 bullpup assault rifle, the naive Svidomo “spilnota” has been suggesting that the AK will certainly be replaced with “ brands." Moreover, they are produced by the state-owned Vinnitsa enterprise “Fort”.
We hasten to disappoint the naive and hasty. The license purchased by Ukraine from the Israeli company IWI for the production of TAR-21 assault rifles does not work for the re-equipment of the APU. Because, even with cheap Vinnitsa labor, the TAR-21 assault rifle, or, if you like, “Fort-221”, turns out to be very, very expensive.
The little casket with the high-priced Vinnitsa “tavors” opens simply: all the critical parts for the production of machine guns come from Israel. These are, first of all, barrels with receivers, as well as composites for lining weapons. In fact, the Ukrainian “Tavora-Forts” are a regular screwdriver assembly, accompanied by puffing out the cheeks and spreading the fingers. The use of Ukrainian components is negligible and is limited to very minor parts.
The fact that the Israeli machine gun carries Turchinov, visiting “cyborgs” and “powderbots”, or the fact that “sweet warriors” shine with it at parades are the usual show-offs of the harem bantustan, like golden pistols in the belt of a drug lord.
Ukraine is simply not able to purchase a sufficient number of “Forts-221” for all Ukrainian security forces. Even Azerbaijan, rich in gas and oil, buys “tavors” exclusively for its “commandos,” as well as other countries that do not save much on their own armies, but know how to count money.
As for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “Forts-221” flashed at the front in the Lugansk-1 karbat, and then not for the entire battalion, but only in one platoon. The lack of foreign machine guns among Bandera’s supporters did not escape the attention of SS Ukropensturmbannführer Biletsky, who declared the pointlessness of purchasing small quantities of expensive weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces that are not used at the front.
The Ukrainian defense industry will not be able to turn the situation in their favor and increase the degree of localization in the Fort-221 weapon. Alas, independent Ukraine never learned how to make high-quality gun barrels. This applies not only to machine guns, but also to tank guns, as well as 30 mm automatic guns for light armored vehicles. In any case, their survivability is much lower than that of Russian models.
Apparently, the “independents” somehow forgot about the embarrassment with the “Fort” pistols. Equipment and barrels for the first batch of pistols were purchased in the Czech Republic. As long as Czech components were used in the “forts,” everything was fine. But as soon as the transition to self-produced barrels took place, all independent poverty was revealed. The survivability of the Fort's barrels did not exceed 2000 shots. For comparison: the Soviet PM has a guaranteed barrel life of 4000 rounds; after firing them, the pistol was transferred to the second category. But the survivability life of the PM barrel is 40 thousand rounds. Technology of the 1950s. Very soon, from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, where the “masterpieces” of the Ukrainian defense industry began to arrive for testing, plaintive requests began to come to return the “Makar” back.
Since then, nothing has changed fundamentally. All that the weapons and small arms thought of Ukraine could produce was the conversion of the Soviet AK-74 into the slop “Vepr” and outdated weapons, such as Mosin rifles and DShKM heavy machine guns, tuned beyond recognition.
So what will the Ukrainian Armed Forces replace the Kalashnikovs with? As it has recently become absolutely clear, Ukraine is going to arm its security forces with a special modification of the M-16 WAC-47, which will be produced in cooperation with the American company Aeroscraft. According to the American resource Flickr.com, a fly has not yet sat on the license issued to Ukroboronprom. The deal took place in December 2016.
Without going into detail about the advantages and disadvantages of assault rifles of the M-16 family and how cheerfully the Ukrovoyaks will begin to return Crimea and Donbass with the WAC-47 in their clutches, it is better to immediately talk about the rakes and traps lying in wait for Ukraine on the path of weapons “de-Sovietization.”
We should start with the fact that weapons with the WAC-47 formula do not yet exist in nature. Considering that the M16A2/M4 is taken as a model, Ukrainian weapons thought will not have to work particularly hard. Buy a ready-made construction set from a legion of spare parts manufacturers and make your own M4 under any name. True, for some reason high-quality and not very cheap M4s come out exclusively from Colt, and all other sets somehow do not reach its level. You’ve also never heard of miracle weapons from Aeroscraft...
Maybe WAC-47 is something like paintball?
Thus, taking into account the economic and financial health of post-Maidan Ukraine, having trumpeted and talked to one’s heart’s content, all practical work will be limited to purchasing cheaper components, and it is still unknown how much they will “save” and “effectively use” in the process. On the contrary, high-quality gun barrels are the “Achilles heel” of the Ukrainian arms industry.
Let’s keep in mind “modifications” of Ukrainian missiles and avionics made from dubious components almost from Aliexpress.
Money for a project is a completely different matter. Despite the fact that even without repurposing production for a NATO cartridge, preliminary measures for the transition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to new weapons will cost $1.5 billion, as Ukrainian sources report. No one can say with all responsibility how many billions the entire campaign will cost.
But the hardest part is that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing a shortage even of Soviet-style cartridges, and not just NATO ones. Where can I get them from? Ukroboronprom reports that if its initiatives are supported by the government, the cartridge plant will be built in 18 months. That is, this whole rearmament program was written out with a pitchfork, since the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by Groysman, was not worthy of throwing money at a cartridge factory for weapons for which a license has already been purchased.
An excellent example of statesmanship passed through the anus.
For the sake of academic interest: from whom will Ukraine purchase cartridges for new rifles? In Russia? Pride and prejudice will not allow, and Russia will not, help Bandera’s Ukraine with ammunition. You can, of course, stock up on cartridges from Poland, but the closest “ally” of Bandera’s followers has such prices for ammunition that Poroshenko and Groysman will have to take off their last pants, because cartridges for the army are usually purchased in batches of billions of pieces. Like seeds.
No, whatever you want, it’s very good that Bandera’s Ukraine-not-Russia is ruled by degenerates and show-offs. Of all the decisions, they choose the most publicized, lengthy, costly and dubious. Instead of finishing the necessary batches of free Soviet weapons at a very reasonable price to an acceptable level (which, by the way, was what “Fort” was doing before “Euromaidan”, scamming AKMs and AKMSs for sale), they will pile up huge plans in a poor country, even when butt is not covered. Use it to you, Banderlog! Continue to fly over the cuckoo's nest!
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