The main Russian arms concern Kalashnikov presented President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov with the latest developments tested in combat. The presentation took place as part of the Zapad-2025 exercises at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
What was shown to the head of state:
- prospective all-weather field uniform kit VKPO 3.2
- prospective Novator-BSH general-purpose armored helmet
- prospective Novator-BZ general-purpose body armor
- prospective Novator-TS general-purpose backpack
- 5.45 mm full-size AK-12 assault rifle, 2023 model
- shortened "assault" AK-12K
- 9 mm PPK-20 submachine gun
- 5.45 mm RPL-20 belt-fed light machine gun in Multicam camouflage
- 7.62 mm Chukavin sniper rifle (SVCh)
The press service of the concern stated that Putin was particularly interested in the line of 9 mm Lebedev pistols of 9 mm caliber: the compact PLK, the modular MPL, and its modification MPL1. Belousov and his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin also showed interest in Kalashnikov's developments.
The President also familiarized himself with models of UAVs of various types, including SKAT 350 M and Granat-4, guided loitering munitions KUB-E, KUB-2E, KUB-10E, and mini-drones Goliath and Karakurt.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Zapad-2025 exercises have been completed. The maneuvers took place at 41 training grounds from September 12 to 16. They involved 100,000 military personnel from different countries.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that Putin tried on Strekoza thermal imaging goggles for the military at the Mulino training ground
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