Russia to replace legendary Makarov with new pistol
Russia will replace the legendary Soviet-era Makarov pistols used by its police and army with a new model that can work in extreme temperatures and rip through body armour, its maker said Friday.
The new pistol called Udav, or boa constrictor, has been successfully tested and will go into mass production in spring, according to Rostec, Russia's state corporation that acts as an umbrella for its military-industrial complex.
The Udav will be ‘one of the most powerful pistols in the world,’ Rostec said in a press release. The weapon will use 9 x 21mm rounds, and will be able to pierce 1.4mm of titanium or 4mm of steel armour from a 100 metre distance.
The pistol works in a range of extreme temperatures from -70 to 50° Celsius and ‘showed excellent performance in a whole complex of tests’ in the Arctic, the desert, and in highly humid environments, Rostec said.
The Udav will replace the Makarov, a semi-automatic pistol that has been a ubiquitous sidearm used by various security forces and the military.
The Makarov pistol, named after its inventor Nikolai Makarov, has been in production since the 1950s and replaced the TT pistol used during World War II.
It is a contemporary of the Soviet Kalashnikov rifle and is known for the same degree of reliability and ease of use, with variants produced in several eastern European countries allied with Moscow during the Cold War, as well as China.
The Makarov has also been included as a standard part of the cosmonauts' survival kit in Russian Soyuz space capsules used for landing back on Earth from space, to ward off wild animals in the event of landing in a remote forest area.
More from Land Warfare
-
US Army chooses Textron Systems and Griffon Aerospace in final showdown for FTUAS
The US Army plans to procure a Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) to replace the Textron Systems RQ-7Bv2 Shadow tactical UAV currently in service with the US Army's Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). The FTUAS is being developed under the wider Future UAS (FUAS) programme.
-
British Army’s Challenger 3 undertakes qualification firings in Germany
The Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank (MBT), which will be delivered to the British Army by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) under an £800 million (US$1 billion) contract, will stay in service beyond 2040.
-
Lockheed Martin signs Australian air and missile defence system deal
Air 6500 Phase 1, worth AU$500 million (US$326 million), will result in a sovereign system that can provide greater situational awareness and help to defend against hostile aircraft and missiles. It will sit at the core of Australia’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence programme.
-
Rheinmetall wins communications deal that could be worth up to €400 million
The systems have been purchased under a special fund which has already been tapped into for the purchase of 60 CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters worth up to €8 billion (US$8.7 billion) and thousands of Rheinmetall Caracal airmobile special operations vehicles worth €1.9 billion.
-
Italy weighs up the challenge of its tank replacement plans
The Russia–Ukraine war has continued to be the place the world’s militaries have been watching for lessons on both the EW and uncrewed front. Its conventional war aspect, however, has also been catching the attention of leaders.
-
The Philippines looks to Israel for military equipment amid South China Sea tensions
The southeast Asian country has been enhancing its military readiness by procuring advanced Israeli defence platforms and systems.