The Soviet AO-29 Lightweight GPMG

In the early 1960s, the Soviet military found itself at a crossroads. The recently adopted Kalashnikov PK general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) has solved many problems by easing logistics and supporting a single machine gun type. Still, its adoption also revealed new tactical expectations: a single...

By Lynndon Schooler

The Unique Story of an Iraqi Designated DMR

Discover the unique story of the Iraqi Tabuk DMR — a 7.62x39mm designated marksman rifle produced at the Al-Qadissiya Establishments, derived from Yugoslav Kalashnikov technology under Saddam Hussein's military buildup.

Ayoob: Was the 10mm Destined to Fail?

No other handgun cartridge has experienced quite as many ups, down and reinventions of purpose in so short a time as the 10mm Auto. Generally thought to have been a product of the 1980s, the 10mm’s whole story actually goes back further. A Brief History of the 10mm The mid-twentieth century saw...

By Massad Ayoob

The RPK: The Soviet Choice of Commonality Over Capability

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet high command accepted a compromise that would shape frontline infantry small arms for decades: prioritizing platform commonality over dedicated squad-level suppressive fire capability. That decision, formalized with the 1959 adoption of an AK-derived automatic rifle, ...

By Lynndon Schooler

POTD: Where SCAR Meets FAMAS

Photo of the Day captures the Belgian Army’s Special Operations Regiment during Tropical Storm, a recurring multinational exercise conducted in Central Africa in cooperation with Gabonese authorities. Now in its fifth iteration, the exercise is designed to prepare a rapidly deployable task ...

By Eric B

POTD: Next Stop Brussels–Schuman - Belgian Paratroopers Go Underground

Photo Of The Day, and we go full Special Forces. The story takes us underground, where the 22nd Assault Company of Belgium’s 3 Para transformed Brussels–Schuman  metro station into a Close Quarters Battle training environment. Far removed from open terrain, this setting emphasize...

By Eric B

The Soviet “Silent” AKS-74UB

The AKS-74UB is one of the rarer Kalashnikov variants, a suppressed short carbine designed for missions requiring minimal noise and visual signature. Derived from the AKS-74U developed by Mikhail T. Kalashnikov in the 1970s, the AKS-74UB was created by a team of engineers at the Research Institut...

By Lynndon Schooler
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