Russia Tour 2001 Testing the AN-94 Nikonov: Corrspondent David Fortier gives us a look at the cutting edge of Russian Small Arms Development

Guns Magazine, March, 2002 by David M. Fortier

In September of 2001, a three-man team journeyed to Russia and had an inside look at some of the latest and most advanced Russian small arms. The team consisted of Marc Krebs, a nationally known gunsmith, Mark Vorobiev, a Russian native who served his country in Afghanistan as part of a SPETsNAZ unit, and myself. After the September 11th attack on New York and Washington D.C., the United States began waging war in Afghanistan. One country that stands in support of the United States is Russia. It, too has suffered attacks by terrorists. Additionally, it has had more experience fighting in Afghanistan than any other country.

From 1979 until 1989 Russia was embroiled in a bitter Afghan war. The combat experience garnered while fighting there not only changed the Russian army's tactics and techniques for waging a modern war, but also helped refine weaponry. While the venerable AK-74M is still in service, its replacement has been adopted and is already issued to SPETsNAZ units Hard as it may seem to believe, the days of the Kalashnikov in Russian service may well be coming to an end.

The Challenge

Type-classified by the Russians as the Avtomat Nikonova-94, the AN-94 is a radical departure from what came before it. While rumors of the Nikonov reached the west as far back as 1993, few outside of Russia had seen it. Knowing this, Marc Krebs, Mark Vorobiev and I decided to seek out and testfire this largely unknown Russian rifle. We began our quest by flying into Moscow where our friend Eric Mustafin met us. Mustafin, a nationally ranked Sambo (Russian martial arts) champion, had, made all our hotel and travel arrangements, including a flight the next day to Izhevsk.

Located in the Udmurt Republic, Izhevsk is approximately 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow on the European side of the Western Urals, Formerly a closed city, it's the home of Izhmash OJSC Russia's premiere arms manufacturer. Founded in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars, this arms plant has played a significant role in the country's defenses. While Izhmash is currently most famous for being the home of Dr. Kalashnikov and his Avtomat, it's also the home of Gennadiy Nikonov and his AN-94.

We flew there on rickety old ex-Areoflot passenger plane. Touching down, were greeted by Andrei Vishnyakov, the head of public, relations for Izhmash International Trading Center Ltd., and Ahat Khisamutdinov, the personal photographer of Mikhail Kalashnikov.

A Need For Change

The seed for the AN-94 was planted in the 1960s because of the Soviet's dissatisfaction with the basic AKM. While Russia was impressed with the AKM's ruggedness and reliability, it was difficult for conscripts to control on full-auto. Due to this problem, the Soviets desired a lighter, more controllable we weapon that fired a small caliber, high-velocity low impulse cartridge.

Russia's intention w is to field an assault rifle that eliminated recoil through a balanced counter-recoil system. This in conjunction with the new cartridge would yield an assault rifle with dramatically less dispersion, a flatter trajectory, lighter ammunition, and increased effectiveness over anything currently fielded. This bore fruit in the 5.45x39 AL-4, but due to the failing Soviet economy, it was never put into production Instead the AK-74 was adopted in its place. While a superb rifle, the AK -74's increased controllability comes simply through the change from 7.62x39 to 5.45x39 and its effective muzzlebrake not its mechanical design.

The Soviet's desire for a technological leap forward in assault rifles didn't however, fade away. Realizing that the AK-74 represented the zenith of the Kalashnikov design, the Soviets opened a competition for its replacement. This was code named Abakan and began some time in the late 1970s.

The primary requirement of the new rifle was for it to have a hit ratio 1.5 to 2 times greater than the AK-74. In addition it needed to have reduced recoil and increased reliability. Anyone who has ever fired an AK-74 knows what a tall order this was. The AK-74 is extremely controllable, has very light recoil, and is eminently reliable. At least eight different design teams, including one led by Mikhail's son, Victor Kalashnikov, submitted rifles to the competition. In the end, Gennadiy Nikonov's entry was selected and adopted as the AN-94. While placed in limited production in 1998, it has only been built in limited quantities due to manufacturing costs. This has kept the rifle a mystery here in the West.

On September 12, our team met with Alexander G. Likhachev, the general director of Izhmash. He graciously gave us permission to testfire the AN-94 and other new Russian weapons. A few hours later, we pulled into a small 100-meter range where a group of men were gathered. There was not only a small security detail and members of Izhmash's Public Relations Department, but also a member of the Nikonov design team. With him was an AN-94 built in 2000, serial numbered 1990893, plus a bunch of 30round mags!

At Last-A Close Look