JSC Kalashnikov Concern (; ), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (; ), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital city of Moscow. The concern designs and produces a wide range of civilian and military weapons including assault rifles, sniper rifles, designated marksman rifles, machine guns, squad automatic weapons, hunting rifles, shotguns, guided artillery projectiles, and a wide range of other precision weapons including remote controlled weapon stations, unmanned vehicles, and military robots.
The Kalashnikov Concern produces about 95% of all small arms in Russia and supplies to more than 27 countries around the world, making it the largest firearm manufacturer in Russia. Notable products include the Kalashnikov (AK) assault rifle series, the RPK light machine gun series, the Dragunov SVD semi-automatic sniper rifle, the SKS semi-automatic carbine, the Makarov PM pistol, the Saiga-12 shotgun, and the submachine guns Vityaz-SN and PP-19 Bizon. These firearms, except for the SVD, SKS and the PM, were based on the famous AK series, due to its reliability to endure harsh conditions, low production costs, availability in nearly every geographical region, and ease of use.
As of 2018, 26% of the Concern's shares belong to Rostec, while 74% of the company belongs to private investors (Alexey Krivoruchko and Andrei Bokarev).
History
left|thumb|Andrey Deryabin, chief mining engineer of the [[Izhevsk iron works as well as head of the Izhevsk armory]]
First years
On 10 June 1807 by the decree of the Emperor of All Russias Alexander I a firearms factory was established in the city of Izhevsk, the construction and operation of which was headed by the chief mining engineer of the city ironworks Andrey Deryabin. Architects, Semyon Yemelyanovich Dudin and Andrey Deryabin developed a long-term master plan for further comprehensive development of the arsenal. Due to the proximity of the ironworks, the armory was supposed to be built on the bank of the Izh River, which immediately solved the problem of raw material supply.
Deryabin employed Russian and Udmurtian agricultural workers living in the city. At that time, agricultural workers had to settle in the arsenal and work there. Neighboring settlements were exempt from this rule, but they had to provide the arsenal with carts, horses and harnesses. Deryabin also hired foreign arsenal experts to train Russian craftsmen; in 1807 the arsenal produced seven long guns, five pistols and six backswords.
Kalashnikov later designed newer firearms: the AKM and the AK-74 assault rifle, the RPK light machine gun, and the PK belt-fed machine gun. These firearms helped contribute to greater firepower for the Soviet Army as well as numerous nations that had imported them. Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant gun designer Yevgeny Dragunov also help contribute to the plant's fame by creating his SVD sniper rifle. Designed in 1963 and based out of sporting rifles, the SVD became the squad support weapon for the Soviet Army in the same year as well as starting a new trend of semi-automatic sniper rifles.
In July 2014, Kalashnikov Concern was sanctioned by the United States and the European Union as a result of the Russian annexation of Crimea and Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Since Europe and the United States were the largest customers of the concern's civilian firearms, the concern was forced to rethink its marketing strategy. The concern opened five new markets and started selling its civilian firearms to ten new foreign countries, which helped the concern make up for its losses.
In the same year, Kalashnikov Concern has presented "Strategy 2020", which includes technical re-equipment and production modernization. When implemented, the project will qualitatively improve production technology and greatly reduce running costs and energy consumption while also improving working conditions and overall productivity.
On 9 February 2017, Rostec's management board gave permission to transfer Kalashnikov Concern to private investors. As of now, Rostec owns 26% of the concern while private investors own 74%.
In 2022, the Concern had reportedly achieved a 40% record yearly increase in weapons production for domestic needs and for export and also completed one licensed production agreement. The Concern reported in May 2023 that it had achieved a 10-year record in weapons deliveries during the first quarter of the year and that it has established a drone production unit. It was reported in late August 2023 that the production of 9K121 Vikhr, Strela and Kitolov missiles rose almost 1.5 fold. The company said in January 2024 that the government contracts for sniper rifles had increased by 8 times in the past year. It was also said that the production of "special equipment" increased by 45% in 2023 and the production of combat pistols by 5 times. The company reported in February 2024 that the production of drones has increased by 60% since 2022. Kalashnikov reported in May 2024 that during the first quarter of the year it had increased the civilian production output by 50% and the firearms production by 9% at comparison with the same period of 2023 and also raised revenues by 37% and started to supply upgraded AK-12 assault rifles of the 2023 model. In the next month, the Concern reportedly started supplies of the civilian electrically-powered and VTOL Legionnaire drone which is used for cargo delivery, terrain sensing and video monitoring. Supplies of the Stena special vehicles begun in July 2024. On 22 July 2024, the company claimed that production of military and civilian goods has increased by 50% during the first half of the year. On 3 October 2024, the company reported that it is ramping up the production of aircraft guns because of a multiple growth of order volumes. On 22 November 2024, the company stated that it had completed the 2024 state order for small arms ahead of schedule. On 28 January 2025, the Kalashnikov reported that it had achieved a 10-year record high revenue from export contracts for both military and civilian small arms in 2024. In January 2026, the company started to supply the Russian Army with electric motorcycles and electric scooters. In February 2026, the company completed development and started offering for export the Rus-PE loitering munition. In April 2026, the company reported that it has supplied a large batch of AK-203 assault rifles to a foreign customer and completed export obligations for the year ahead of schedule.
Organization
JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" has its headquarters in city of Izhevsk and the Khamovniki District in the capital city of Moscow.
JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" is composed of the two largest firearm manufacturers in Izhevsk:
- JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" – JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" produces and tests combat small arms, sporting and hunting weapons, aircraft guns, precision guided artillery shells, test and control machines of complexes, as well as machines and high-quality tools. This company is also the mother company of the holding company JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" as well. The company is formerly known as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, also known as Izhmash.
- JSC "Izhevsk Mechanical Plant" – Also known as Izhmekh, the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant is focusing on modern technologies of machine building, metallurgy, instrument making, microelectronics, producing civil and service weapons, power tools, packaging equipment, oil and gas equipment, medical equipment, precision steel casting.
JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" divides its firearm products into three brands.
- Kalashnikov – Kalashnikov produces military weapons such as firearms as well as vehicles.
- Baikal – Baikal produces hunting firearms and jackets
- Izhmash – Izhmash creates sporting firearms out of the basis of weapons of Kalashnikov Concern.
JSC "Kalashnikov Concern" has four subsidiaries:
On 30 January 2014, Rostec's supervisory board approved the appointment of Alexei Krivoruchko, its new shareholder, as CEO of the Kalashnikov Concern, replacing Konstantin Busygin. He took up his duties on 31 January 2014. According to the interlocutor of the agency, since 2011, this is the fourth change of the general director at the enterprise.
General Directors of Izhmash NPO (1993–2013)
- Vladimir Grodetsky (1996–2011)
- Maxim Kuzyuk (2011 – June 2012)
- Alexander Kosov (acting: June 2012 – December 2012)
- Konstantin Busygin (December 2012 – August 2013)
CEOs of Kalashnikov Concern (2013–present)
- Konstantin Busygin (August 2013 – January 2014)
- Alexei Krivoruchko (January 2014 – June 2018)
- Vladimir Dmitriyev (June 2018 - August 2019)
- Dmitry Tarasov (September 2019 - August 2021)
- Vladimir Lepin (August 2021 – present)
Products
Izhevsk Arsenal
Although the arsenal was under construction in 1807, production of weapons immediately started: mainly long guns, pistols, and backswords. One notable long gun the arsenal made was the No. 15 17.7mm muskets, of which 6,000 of them were supplied to the Imperial Russian Army. The arsenal later manufactured rifles, muskets, carbines, and flint blunderbusses for cavalry in 1809. The venture also produced pistols and gun parts and remelted trophy weapons. Firearms were produced at a rapid pace for the Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars, mainly in the French invasion of Russia, even though construction of the armory had not been finished yet. During the first four years, the factory produced 2,000 long guns. In 1814, the output grew up to 10,000 guns and almost 2,500 backswords. By 1830, the armory achieved the desired annual output of 25,000 long guns and 5,000 backswords.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| colspan="3" |
Battle rifles
|-
|Name
|AVS-36
|SVT-40
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1936–1940
|1940–1945
|-
| colspan="3" |
Bolt-action rifles
|-
|Name
|Mosin–Nagant
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1891–1965
|-
| colspan="3" |
Handguns
|-
|Name
|Nagant M1895
|TT pistol
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1895–1945
|1930–1952
|}
Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="5" |
Aircraft guns
|-
|Name
|Shpitalny Sh-37
|Nudelman-Suranov NS-37
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1941–1942
|1942–1945
|-
| colspan="5" |
Anti-tank rifles
|-
|Name
|PTRD
|PTRS-41
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1941–1945
|1941–1945
|-
| colspan="5" |
Automatic rifles
|-
|Name
|AK-47
|AKM
|AK-74
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1951-1957
|1959–1978
|1974–1991
|-
| colspan="3" |
Carbines
| colspan="2" |
|-
|Name
|SKS
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1953–1954
|-
| colspan="5" |
Handguns
|-
|Name
|Makarov pistol
|PB
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1949–present
|1967–present
|-
| colspan="4" |
Machine guns
|
|-
|Name
|Berezin UB
|RPK
|PK
|RPK-74
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1941–1945
|1961–1978
|1961–present
|1978–1991
|-
| colspan="5" |
Sniper rifles
|-
|Name
|Dragunov SVD
| rowspan="3" |-
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" |
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1963–present
|}
Izhmash
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="6" |
Aircraft guns
|-
|Name
|Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1980–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Handguns
|-
|Name
|MP-446 Viking
|MP-443 Grach
|
|
|
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|
|
|
|-
|Year
|2001–present
|2003–present
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="6" |
Assault rifles
|-
|Name
|AK-74M
|AN-94
|AK-103
|AK-101
|AK-107/AK-108
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1991–present
|1994–2006
|1994–present
|1994–present
|mid-1990s–present
|-
|Name
|AK-9
|AK-12 (AK-200)
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|Early 2000s–present
|2010-2016
|-
| colspan="6" |
Carbines
|-
|Name
|AK-102
|AK-104
|AK-105
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
| frameless|177x177px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1994–present
|1994–present
|1994–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Civilian
|-
|Name
|Saiga semi-automatic rifle
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1990s–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Machine guns
|-
|Name
|RPK-74M
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1991–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Shotguns
|-
|Name
|Saiga-12
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" |-
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1997–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Sniper rifles
|-
|Name
|SVDS
|SVDM
|SV-98
| rowspan="3" |-
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1990s–present
|1990s–present
|1998–present
|-
| colspan="6" |
Submachine guns
|-
|Name
|PP-91 "Kedr"
|PP-19 "Bizon"
|Vityaz-SN
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|1994–present
|1994–present
|2008–present
|}
Kalashnikov Concern
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="5" |
Assault rifles
|-
|Name
|AK-12 (AK-400)
|AK-15
|AK-203
|AK-19/AK19
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|2016–present
|2016–present
|2019–present
|2020–present
|-
| colspan="5" |
Battle rifles
|-
|Name
|AK-308
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|167x167px
|-
|Year
|2018–present
|-
| colspan="5" |
Handguns
|-
|Name
|Lebedev PL-15
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|2016–present
|-
| colspan="5" |
Machine guns
|-
|Name
|RPK-16
|RPL-20
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|170px
|-
|Year
|2016–present
|-
| colspan="5" |
Semi-automatic rifles
|-
|Name
|Kalashnikov SR-1
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|2018–present
|-
| colspan="5" |
Sniper rifles
|-
|Name
|Chukavina SVCh
|SV-98M
| rowspan="3" | –
| rowspan="3" | –
|-
|Image
|frameless|170x170px
|frameless|170x170px
|-
|Year
|2016–present
|2016–present
|}
Kalashnikov CV-1
On 23 August 2018, Kalashnikov Concern introduced a new electric car prototype, the CV-1. Its exterior design was based on the rare 1970s Soviet large family car IZh 2125 "Kombi". The range on one charge was claimed to be 350 km.
Kalashnikov UV-4
Alongside the reveal of the CV-1, Kalashnikov also showed a prototype for the UV-4 4-door electric quadricycle, with a taxi variant being revealed in August 2019. The UV-4 was shown again in patent images later in November 2021, this time along with a 3-wheel, 2-door vehicle based on it.
See also
Kalashnikov USA
- Defense industry of Russia
- List of companies of Russia
- List of modern armament manufacturers
- Other Russian firearm companies
- OJSC Degtyarev Plant
- OJSC Vyatskiye Polyany Molot Machine-Building Plant
- TsNIITochMash
- TsKIB SOO
- International large firearm companies
- Colt's Manufacturing Company
- FN Herstal
- Heckler & Koch
- SIG Sauer
- Fabryka Broni
Notes
References
- Lapin, Terence W. (2003). The Mosin–Nagant Rifle, 3rd ed. Tustin, California: North Cape Publications. .
- Lapin, Terence W. (2013). The Mosin–Nagant Rifle, 6th ed. Tustin, California: North Cape Publications. .
- Wilson, Royce: "The Nagant M1895 Revolver". Australian & New Zealand Handgun, Issue 4 (January 2006).