Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia began development on the Kord heavy machine gun, while Belarus, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Vietnam all introduced their own copies of the NSV.

Mikhail Kalashnikov's submission was approved following trials as it was found to be more reliable and cheaper to manufacture than the design of Grigory Nikitin and Yuri Sokolov.

Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia began developing the Kord heavy machine gun to replace the NSV "Utyos" and which entered service in 1998.

It is often used as a vehicle-mounted machine gun, and can be seen on the Pasi armoured personnel carrier, the Nasu transport vehicle and the Leopard 2R tank.

Due to its high rate of fire, the NSV is intended to be used as a close-range anti-aircraft weapon against helicopters, UAVs and aircraft.