HARDLY a day goes by without Mikhail Kalashnikov turning on his television set and seeing his lethal invention being brandished somewhere.
It still makes him proud to see the Kalashnikov assault rifle — better known as the AK47 — in the hands of professional soldiers and national liberation movements.
But now, aged 86, he laments that it has become the weapon of choice for terrorists, criminals and child soldiers — and, as such, the most prolific killing machine in history.
General Kalashnikov (retired) began designing his weapon in 1941 while recuperating in hospital from wounds suffered when a German shell hit his tank. He recalls brainstorming one night and scribbling down a design he hoped would improve the Soviet Army’s chances against the better-equipped Nazi forces, who were being issued with automatic rifles. To his frustration, it would not be completed until 1947 — hence the name Avtomat Kalashnikova 47 — but the weapon proved so reliable that it had become standard army issue within two years and was soon being exported to “friendly” governments and revolutionary movements.
Copies and adaptations were also produced in more than a dozen communist countries, including China, North Korea, East Germany and Poland.
As a result, there are an estimated 100 million AK47s in the world today — some ten times more than its American rival, the M16. And almost a billion rifles have been produced based on its design and parts, according to Izhmash, the company that makes the AK47 at its factory in Izhevsk in the Ural mountains.
Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That’s the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it. Look what’s happening now: every day on television we see that the Americans in Iraq have my machineguns and assault rifles in their armoured vehicles. Even their American rifles don’t work properly.
The rifle is especially effective in jungles and deserts, so much so that the Pentagon bought thousands to equip the new Iraqi armed forces.
GUN LORE
The AK47 fires 600 rounds a minute, is accurate to 300m, deadly at up to 1,500m
Used in 55 armies
Manufactured in 11 countries
Appears on Mozambique and Hezbollah flags
1 billion rifles produced based on its design
1,300 people killed each day worldwide by small arms