Why is the AK rifle combined with grenade launcher suspended?
Similar to the high-tech American XM-25 rifle or the Korean K11, the AK 80.002 also has two barrels side by side with a single trigger mechanism.
The idea of creating a version of the AK assault rifle combined with a grenade launcher and using a single trigger mechanism was conceived in the 1970s. The group of engineers from the TsNIITochMash Research Institute, including Yu.V. Minaev, VI Chelikin and GA Yanov, was responsible for designing the weapon.
This gun is designated AK 80.002, it has a very unique double barrel structure in which the right barrel is similar to the AK-74, firing 5.45 x 39 mm bullets, while the left barrel fires 12.7 mm grenades.
Since the two barrels are placed side by side, the AK 80.002 naturally requires the two magazines to be arranged similarly.
The new weapon is expected to help soldiers possess superior firepower against enemies on the battlefield.
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| AK 80.002 Combined Assault Rifle. |
The AK 80.002 operates on the same long-stroke gas principle as the traditional AK-47, but it uses a dual-barrel system with two independently operating pistons to accommodate the special mechanism.
The AK 80.002's ammunition consists of 30 rounds for the assault rifle barrel and 10 rounds for the grenade launcher barrel, contained in two separate magazines. Many of the AK 80.002's components were taken from the AK-74, which simplified and saved costs during the research and development process.
The right side of the AK 80.002 is basically the same as the AK-74, with 2 modes of fire: burst and single shot, but the stability when firing burst is higher.
The specifications for the 12.7mm side-barrel ammo are currently unknown.
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| Special structure and double breech of AK 80.002 |
Basic parameters of the AK 80.002 assault rifle include a length of 1,000 mm with a barrel length of 450 mm, a weight of 4.9 kg, and a maximum range of 1,000 m as recorded on the sight, similar to other AK brothers.
Although the AK 80.002 was a unique design, ahead of its time, compared to today's XM-25 or K11, it is easy to see that the Soviet weapon was much simpler. It did not have the ability to fire bullets programmed to explode, and the power of the 12.7 mm grenade was also considered too small.
The AK 80.002 assault rifle project was suspended in 1979, although it was not successful, it demonstrated the breakthrough thinking of Soviet military engineers during the Cold War.
