What does AEK-971 stand for?

The AEK-971 (Russian: Автомат единый Кокшарова 971, “Rifle, common, of Koksharov, 971) is a selective fire 5.45×39mm assault rifle that was developed at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant (KMZ) by chief designer Sergey Koksharov in the late 1970s and 1980s (currently manufactured by Degtyarev Plant).

Is AK-12 better than AK-15?

The AK-12 is chambered for 5.45-millimeter ammunition left over from the AK-74/AK-74M days, while the AK-15 is chambered for the older 7.62 ammunition stockpiled for the AK-47 and AKM. The AK-12 is likely meant for frontline combat troops while the AK-15 could be assigned to rear area and reservist troops.

What is the replacement for the AEK-971?

On 23 December 2014, the Russian Army announced that a successor variant of the AEK-971 line, designated as the KORD 6P67 (official GRAU designation 6P67 ), along with their main rival the AK-12, had passed state Ratnik trials and would be accepted into service with operational units for evaluation.

What makes the AEK-971 different from other assault rifles?

Each AEK assault rifle is fitted with a Warsaw Pact side-rail bracket for mounting optics. The travel distance of the reciprocating parts of the AEK-971 is less than compared to the non-balanced recoil AK-pattern designs, thus increasing its cyclic rate of fire significantly.

What kind of ammo does the AEK 972 use?

The burst fire accuracy of the 5.45×39mm AEK-971S is two times higher than that of the 5.45×39mm AK-74M assault rifle. The AEK-972 is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. It uses the magazines of the 5.56×45mm NATO chambered arms of the AK-100 rifle family, the AK-101, AK-102 carbine, and AK-108 .

What are the different variants of the AEK assault rifle?

There are three main variants of the AEK assault rifles: the AEK-971, AEK-972 and AEK-973. The different variants are most easily recognized by their respective magazine curvatures. The AEK-971S and AEK-973S are improved variants of the AEK-971 and AEK-973 which features a three-round burst fire mode and numerous improvements.