Project Abakan

[1] In 1974, the Soviet Army also replaced the AKM with the AK-74 assault rifle chambered for the new smaller 5.45×39mm caliber.

In spite of the smaller caliber and many other improvements the AK-74 failed to overcome the major shortcoming of its predecessor, which was the low accuracy of short bursts of fire.

Soviet analysts determined that modern battlefield tactics require short bursts of fire from shooting positions including standing, kneeling and prone (lying down).

Therefore, in 1981 the Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in the military-industrial issued Required Operational Capability (ROC) number 280 27.08.81.

The prototypes were produced after three years by TsKIB SOO (subsidiary of KBP Instrument Design Bureau), Kovrovskiy mechanical and Izhmash (Izhevsk Mechanical Works) plants under the general guidance of TsNIITochMash (Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building).

Preliminary trials on the technical design stage in August and November 1984 were subjected to assault rifles:[2] The Commission, appointed by the decision Ministry of Defence and GRAU, reviewed the test results and confirmed the possibility of finding a candidate that meets the initial ROC specifications.