RPK-74

The standard Soviet/Russian 5.45×39mm light machine gun, derived from the AK-74 assault rifle, providing squad-level sustained automatic fire since 1974.

Overview

The RPK-74 (GRAU index 6P18) is the standard squad automatic weapon of the Soviet and Russian infantry, chambered for the 5.45×39mm intermediate cartridge. It is a magazine-fed, gas-operated light machine gun built on the AK-74 receiver, equipped with a heavier, fixed barrel and an integral bipod. The weapon entered service alongside the AK-74 in 1974 and has since become one of the most widely proliferated light machine guns in the world, remaining in front-line use by Russian and numerous former Soviet-aligned forces.

Development

The RPK-74 was developed by Izhmash (now Kalashnikov Concern) to complement the AK-74 rifle during the Soviet Union’s transition to the new 5.45×39mm cartridge in the early 1970s. It replaced the 7.62×39mm RPK in the squad automatic role, sharing the ammunition, magazines and operating mechanism of the new rifle, but with a heavier barrel and bipod to deliver sustained fire. The type was adopted in 1974 and quickly became ubiquitous within Soviet motor-rifle squads, as documented by Modern Firearms and GunRF. A modernized variant, the RPK-74M (6P39), followed in the 1990s with plastic furniture and a side-folding stock, and an ambitious redesign, the RPK-16, was revealed in 2016 as a more modular platform.

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