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The PU-21 (Russian: ПУ-21 Пулемёт с унифицированной подачей) is a 5.45×39mm machine gun designed by V. M. Kalashnikov and M. E. Dragunov between 1972 and 1977.

History

Russian (at the time Soviet) military forces have not fielded a squad-level, intermediate caliber, belt-fed machine gun since the retirement of the RPD in the early 1960s.[1]

Official Soviet doctrine from the 1960s onward dictated that squad-level suppressive fire would be provided by the RPK, while PK machine guns would be issued at the company level to provide heavier fire.[2]

The Soviet military moved from the 7.62×39 mm round to the 5.45×39 mm cartridge for its rifles and light machine guns.

Therefore, it considered adopting a dual-feed light machine gun in the new caliber to replace the RPK, similar to the FN Minimi in Western armies.

This resulted in the development of the PU-21 light machine gun.

Design

The PU-21 can be fed from either a 45-round magazine or a 200-round belt. Its sights are graduated to distance of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).[3][4]

Aftermath

The PU-21 prototypes were thoroughly tested by the Soviet Army in Leningrad, but military experts did not see convincing arguments for replacing the RPK and RPK-74 with the PU-21 design.[5]

According to the Soviet military, the design was too complex compared to other weapons then in service, and failed to enhance combat effectiveness.[6][7]

The PKM machine gun, the modernised PK variant, was adopted instead.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ “Degtyarov RPD”. Modern Firearms. 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  2. ^ The Soviet Army: Troops, Organization, and Equipment. United States Department of the Army. 1991.
  3. ^ Пулемет ПУ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  4. ^ Отечественные пулеметы с унифицированной подачей (in Russian). Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 13 Jun 2012.
  5. ^ “Отечественные пулеметы с унифицированной подачей (Тема “Поплин”) | LiveGuns”. 2010-12-06. Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  6. ^ “Kalashnikov RPK”. Modern Firearms. 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  7. ^ The Russian Way of War. Foreign Military Studies Office, United States Department of Defence. 2016.
  8. ^ “PK / PKM”. Forgotten Weapons. 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2021-02-11.