Small arms system
Various firearms are being used to defeat the enemy, however, the most effective mass-produced means are considered to be the infantry weapons systems. These systems enter service with all arms and services of the armed forces. It is not surprising that the Kalashnikov assault rifle is supposed to be the most powerful weapon over the past 50 years. The effectiveness ot “light” weapons and portable means of direct fire support is of a paramount importance in local conflicts, counter guerrilla and counter-terrorist operations, which became the main types of military conflicts of modern era. The annihilation of scattered manpower in such conflicts is far more important than the very capturing or destruction of infrastructure facilities, and here the small arms play indispensable role. No less important is therole they play in a large-scale war to defeat the enemy in cities, woods and mountains, where other means of destruction are limited. Service regulations define such combat activities as “specific ones”, however, they are not rare or specific at all. On the contrary, similar types of fighting in such environments become the more common combat activity. Variety and rapid changing of environment in the course of fighting alongside with the nature of targets and combat tasks require the urgent availability of various types of weapons at the disposal of fighting sub units.
The whole complex of combat means (armament and military hardware) with which the armed forces are fitted constitute the system of armament. In current military conflicts the active role play not only sub units of the armed forces, but also law enforcement bodies with active participation of special purpose combat units and sub units of various force enforcement agencies of the state. Operational or adopted for service small arms weapon is intended for execution of combat and service missions and regarded as a “combat weapon”. The Models of Russian combat small arms will be presented below.
The whole variety of modern small arms may be classified according to specific groups. In this respect there are different approaches in terms of its classification. The main type of this classification is based on the combat capabilities of small arms.