MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is producing the Abakan assault rifle in small batches and without proper backing with equipment and instruments due to lack of funds, Gennady Nikonov, leading constructor of the Izhevsk Armory, said in an interview with the Gazeta newspaper published on Wednesday.
The 5.45mm Abakan assault rifle is also known as AN-94. It was commissioned by the Russian Armed Forces in 1994.
Lack of funds hampers development of new arms, Nikonov said. Moreover, the armory does not get many orders for combat arms, mostly special-purpose units are ordering a few items. Major order placed with the enterprise envisage development of low- capacity small arms, such as submachine-guns that are in great demand abroad.
"We have what they need, it is the Bizon submachine gun designed by Viktor Kalashnkov," the son of legendary arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, Novikov stressed.
The stock of orders for small arms development is pretty small at the Izhevsk Armory. "It is common practice in small-arms design bureaus. One type of arms can serve for 50 and more years. Therefore, there is no need for frequent and quick changes in the range of products," the designer said.
Speaking about problems that the enterprise is facing, he said that "young specialists have been avoiding the armory in the past 10 years." Earlier there was a balance of incoming and outgoing designers, but at present the average age of the personnel is much older.