AEK-999: specifications and photos

The armed conflict in Afghanistan changed the views of the military Soviet command on modern domestic weapons. It was formed the conviction that a successful outcome of tactical military actions is possible when going beyond the weapons and modes and parameters and identifying their shortcomings with subsequent refinement.

In the process of investigating various types of firearms, weaknesses were identified in RPK-74 and PKM - the weapon quickly overheated and had insufficient firepower. As a result of works on modification of structures and improvement of low-pulse cartridges on the basis of RPK-74 and PKM, a new version of a machine gun known as AEK-999 was created.

The basis for a new machine gun

During the operation of the PCM, rapid overheating is observed. This forces you to make long breaks in use and replace the trunk. The machine gun RPK-74 was designed for a 5.45 x 39 mm cartridge. This caliber is characterized by insufficient firepower. At the request of the military command of the Ministry of Defense, it was announced that the tender for the creation of a new advanced hand-machine gun with the advantages of PKM, differing in heat resistance and increased killing capacity, was announced.

For this purpose, cartridges with a caliber of 5.45 x 39 mm were replaced by others, designed specifically for new weapons. They became a machine gun "Badger" - 7 62 54.

AEK-999. Beginning of work

Work on the creation of an advanced machine gun was carried out by the Kovrov Mechanical Plant. This company created a project AEK-999 "Badger" with identical initial PCM automation and the principle of operation. The weapons designers succeeded in solving the problem: upgrading PCM, eliminating its shortcomings and increasing the accuracy of fire. Without changes left a barrel box, a system of ammunition and butt. As a result, the AEK-999 hand-gun "Badger" possessed the same rate of fire as its PCM prototype ("Modernized Kalashnikov Machine Gun").

Testing new weapons

Simultaneously with the work on improving the PKM machine gun, which was produced at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant, according to the terms of the tender announced by the Ministry of Defense, similar developments were carried out by the weapons designers of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Precision Engineering. Kovrov workers were engaged in the creation of the "Badger" machine gun, and in TsNIITCHCHMASH - the 6P41 machine gun PMK "Pecheneg".

At the end of the work in 1999, the first tests of "Pechenega" and "Badger" were carried out, after which AEK-999 became interested in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The development of the TsNIITCHCHMASH machine gun was approved by the Ministry of Defense, which officially took Pecheneg into service. A small batch of AEK-999 was ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a number of tests by its special forces.

What did the changes affect?

• The trunk for the new machine gun was to be refined. Developers managed to eliminate the main disadvantage of PCM - rapid heating during firing. To this end, an alloy of steel was used in the production process, which had previously been used in the manufacture of guns for aviation.
• The fixing assembly of the receiver with the barrel was changed. On its surface was installed longitudinal finning, designed to perform the function of an improvised radiator, covered with plastic fore-end. Using finning prevents the trunk from its rapid overheating. And this, in turn, relieves the soldier from the need to interrupt the conduct of fire to replace the trunk. The firing in the machine gun allowed to significantly increase the length of the continuous queue AEK-999 "Badger". The testing of the carpet gun testifies that the weapon, with insignificant heating, can perform up to 650 shots without changing the barrel. During the fire from machine guns, the soldiers have the effect of "mirage", which consists in distorting the review. This is due to the hot air rising up from the heated barrel. The problem of visual distortions was solved using the construction of a metal tire barrel installed on top, finning acting as a cooling radiator.
• Above the upper part of the trunk, a special seamstress was added by gunsmith designers, which allowed the AEK-999 machine gun to be carried not only by the handle. The fastening of the metal channel to the gun barrel facilitated its transportation, and also gave the soldier the opportunity to shoot from the machine gun from the hip. Earlier it was difficult, because the weight of AEK-999 "Badger" is more than eight kilograms.
• The accuracy of shooting at the "Badger" machine gun compared to the PCM was higher due to the use of flame arrester, recoil compensator and muzzle brake in the design of the new machine gun .

Improved balancing and accuracy of fire

Kovrov weapon engineers during the testing of the PCM noted that the accuracy of the shooting is negatively affected by the congestion of the inconvenient construction of the bipod assembly. For this reason, the AEK-999 machine gun had a muzzle cut from which the bipod was located at a greater distance than in the PCM. As a result of modernization, the bipods were moved away from the barrel of the machine gun, and the improvement in the design of the fasteners increased the balancing of the weapons. Strength of bipods, increased balancing of the machine gun and ease of use positively affected the accuracy of combat.

Adaptation for low-noise shooting

Any machine gun during shooting has a characteristic drawback: it produces a loud sound that stuns a fighter. Extra noise is undesirable, because, among other things, it unmasks the firing position. In order to eliminate the shortage, the engineers-developers of the modernized machine gun equipped AEK-999 with a special device for low-noise shooting - PMS. This enabled the fighter to fire from a distance of 400-600 meters, without revealing his position to the enemy, as the sound of the shots is now almost inaudible.

When conducting combat operations during the night, the use of PMS makes it possible to use night sights. If previously the flame ejected from the barrel made normal sighting difficult, then with PMS this problem was solved.

The very first photos depicting a single AJEK-999 "Badger" machine gun with the device for low-noise shooting on its trunk formed a belief among firearm fans that all the series of the Kovrov machine gun, as in the design of the BCC rifle, are manufactured with PMS. But this is not so. In the case of AEK-999 devices for low-noise shooting are removable. If necessary, they can be attached to the barrel of the weapon, depending on the terrain, environmental conditions and time of day to remove and replace with standard flame arresters from the modernized Kalashnikov (PKM) machine gun.

Tactical and technical characteristics of AEK-999

• Cartridges caliber 5.45 x 39 in RPK-74 are characterized by weak firepower. When creating a modernized carpet weapon, the cartridge was replaced by 7.62 x 54.
• Weight of the "Badger" machine gun AEK-999 is 8,75 kg.
• The length of the weapon is 1188 mm.
• The length of the barrel is 605 mm.
• The initial speed of the bullet is 825 m / s.
• The length of the uninterrupted line is 650 rounds per minute.
• The rate of fire per minute is 250 shots.
• The aiming range is one and a half kilometers.
• The tape of the machine gun is designed for one hundred and two hundred cartridges.

Despite its merits, the AEK-999 "Badger" machine gun did not receive the wide recognition expected by its designers-developers. Soon after testing in 1999, a small batch of production of these weapons was closed. The exact number of AEK-999 machine guns currently in use is unknown. Probably, they have already developed their entire resource.