AK-74U

Following the development of .223 Calibre intermediate rifle cartridge and the service of 5.56x45mm NATO in Vietnam War in 1961, the Union demanded the development of their own intermediate assault rifle cartridge. The outcome was the 5.45x39mm Soviet cartridge, finished in the early 1970s, many rifle designs were submitted to chamber this new calibre of ammunition. In the end the conventional rechambered AKM design submitted by Mikhail Kalashnikov was chosen by the Union, AK-74 became the new standard service rifle for both the Union itself and it's Warsaw Pact allies[1]. Under the pressure of the Cold War, variants of AK-74 were quickly developed and readied to fight a potential world war. U in the designation stands for Short while the S signifies the installed foldable stock, AKS-74U is a short barrel version of AKS-74, various design features allows the U variant to be as compact as most modern SMGs while packing the firepower of a rifle cartridge, U variants measures as short as 735mm (490mm with the shoulder stock folded). Barrel length of the weapon reduced by about half, from 415mm reduced down to 210mm, gas chamber is moved back and gas piston rod also cut down in size to compensate for the weapon size. Reduced size mechanism still operates the rifle in the same way, AKS-74U is still gas operated, rotating bolt action. The rifle itself feeds from the AK-74 or RPK-74 issue 5.45 magazines and is capable of 700-735 rounds per minute cyclic rate of fire. Shortened barrel reduced the effective firing range of the weapon down to around 200 metres, accurate fire around 300-400 metres are considered difficult. Due to the range shortage the U variant were not designed for main army combatants, instead it was developed as a compact rifle calibre weapon for Spetsnatz and law enforcement units who are more likely to enter close quarter combat. Reduced barrel length also meant the rifle hand guard itself is no longer able to equip the typical GP series of underslung grenade launchers of AK-74, instead some units have access to a special 30mm silenced grenade launcher model named BS-1 "Tishina". The launcher itself requires requires special blank cartridges to launch the grenades, blank cartridges are stored in the magazine located inside the launcher's pistol grip while the 30mm grenade feeds from the launcher barrel breech. Standard issue models of AKS-74U are manufactured with wooden hand guard piece, aiming of the weapon relies purely on iron sights. Specialized models and later modernized models can be found with accessory rails for modernized equipment compatibility. Manufacturing of AKS-74U stopped in 1993, it is still however in service in various department of the modern Russian army and law enforcement units, broken down units of AKS-74U are replaced by the new generation 5.45mm calibre short barrel carbine AK-105. AKS-74U also inspired many unique weapon designs, notably the TsKIB SOO OTs-12 Tiss and OTs-14 Groza.