KOVROV, Vladimir Region. April 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The Degtyarev plant based in Kovrov will exhibit the Kord large- caliber machine gun at the IDET 2003 arms show that is to take place in the Czech city of Brno from April 28 to 30.
"The Degtyarev plant will take part in an international arms show in the Czech city of Brno in late April, where we will exhibit our new development, the Kord large-caliber machine gun, both on bipod and mounted," the plant's director general and leader of its delegation to the show Alexander Tmenov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
The plant's experts will take part in the show as part of the Russian Conventional Weapons Agency's delegation led by director general Alexander Nozdrachev.
The machine gun was exhibited abroad for the first time at the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in March this year, Tmenov said. Potential foreign customers had a chance to see the Degtyarev plant's new development on the Russian bench and to fire the machine gun at a proving range. The Kord successfully engaged a long-term air defense firing point, an armored personnel carrier and a fuel depot during the live firing.
The Kord is intended to counter light armor targets and enemy fire assets, manpower at distances of 1,500- 2,000m, and aircraft at distances of up to 1,500m. The baseline version of the gun uses 12.7-mm armor-piercing incendiary and armor-piercing incendiary tracer ammunition. A NATO-adapted export version has also been designed.
Experts say the Kord is better than its foreign counterparts. The gun may be equipped with optical and night sights. The weight of the weapon is 25kg, the rate of fire is 650- 750rpm, and the range of fire is 2,000m. The service life is up to 10,000 rounds. The gun has both single and burst fire modes.
The Kord with a bipod, about twice as light as its counterparts, is the only machine-gun in the world that can be fired from a contingency position - a window, a motor-car, a boat, a helicopter, etc. The original air-cooled barrel has a service life equal to that of the whole weapon.