AK-47: The Gun That Changed The World

First model from 1949

While recuperating in a hospital bed from injuries sustained in a battle during World War 2, Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov of the Red Army became obsessed with the idea of creating a gun that would drive the Germans out of his motherland. He started the sketches for a super weapon that would match the 7.62mm calibre cartridge and suffered initial disappointments including the gun not being adopted by the Soviet Army before the German war machine was beaten back to the heart of Berlin.

Sergeant Kalashnikov in 1949 

In 1947 he submitted a stunning prototype of his assault rifle and by 1949 his hard work paid off as his creation was officially adopted as standard issue rifle for the Army and named the “Avtomat Kalashnikova” (Kalashnikov’s Automatic) or “Ak-47”. The assault rifle as a distinct weapon was barely known at the time. A rugged, proud looking firearm identifiable by its long box magazine and is easily the most recognisable gun in the world. 

The AK-47 is an infantry man’s dream come true. Lighter and smaller than a regular rifle but larger and more powerful than any submachine gun. It was reliable, resistant to corrosion and almost never jams in action. Some have been pulled out from mud after long periods and still let off shots when the trigger is pulled. These qualities plus the fact that the design is extremely simple and can be mastered in a matter of hours by almost anyone has made it the weapon of choice for millions of fighting men in the 64 years of its existence.  

The significance of its power was felt worldwide and especially in the Pentagon when it propelled the relatively backward North-Vietnamese Army to victory over the United States. It is estimated that the bulk of American fatalities during the Vietnam War was as a result of small arms fire or to be blunt, AK-47 fire. 

 

US Soldier inspecting AK-47 captured from NVA 

North Vietnamese Soldier's best friend

The Soviet Union had in the mid 1950's provided the communist Chinese Army with the specifications for the AK-47 and by 1964, China had not only started producing it but had shipped large quantities to South -East Asia including Vietnam. China had just as it would do many times over in the future to come, levelled the playing field by providing a minnow with technology normally reserved for the mighty and powerful nations.The gun also claimed the scalp of a second Superpower when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to defend the communist regime in that country. The Mujaheddin fighters armed by Pakistan, USA (ironically) and Egypt paid for or supplied weapons in large quantities including the AK-47 and after ten years of hard fighting the mighty Soviet Army pulled out just the way the US had done in Vietnam a decade earlier.

Mujaheddin fighters in Afghanistan (1981)

Sadly after the Afghan conflict, the fall of the Soviet Empire and the raid on its armories by black market players forced the price even lower, making it cheaper than the price of a young goat in some countries. The gun's reputation among the mujaheddin and freedom fighters quickly made it the darling to less heroic causes and has since become the tool of insurgents and rebels the world over from Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan to the Congo and it is estimated that between 70 and 100 million have been produced since 1949. Scary but true, in 2006 the average black market price of an AK-47 in the Niger Delta was $75!!

The gun was inspired by the need to protect an underdog State from superior adversaries but contrary to the intentions of its creator, it has been applied to scenarios that stifle freedom and well being of the common man. No wonder Mikhail Kalashnikov prefers to be associated more with his recent breakthrough – Kalashnikov vodka!

Mikhail Kalshnikov and his latest creation 

Thirty countries including Nigeria now have a production line for the AK-47. It is produced by the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria under the name “OBJ-006” after former President Olusegun Obasanjo.