The Degtyarev Armory Factory

OJSC "Plant named after V.A. Degtyarev" is one of the leaders of the Russian defense industry. He produces weapons for the fleet, ground forces, aviation, special services. The products of the enterprise are used by the armies of 17 countries of the world. Specialization of the plant are machine guns and quick-firing cannons of various calibers, sniper systems, complex grenade launcher systems. They also produce motorcycles and mopeds.

Pages of History

More than a hundred years, the Degtyarev plant (ZiD) produces military products. With the outbreak of the First World War, it was realized that Russian troops lacked light and mobile automatic small arms. In 1916, with a significant delay, the "First Russian Joint Stock Company of Weapons and Machine Guns" was created. He was instructed to promptly establish the production of manual machine guns (machine guns) under a license purchased from the Danes. However, instead of a thousand articles, by the middle of 1917 only 4 prototypes were produced.

The revolution did not hinder the development of the enterprise. On the contrary, the Soviet government ordered to restore the unfinished production. The factory was run by Vladimir Fedorov, and Vasily Degtyarev became his assistant and student, later he founded the leading design school of shooting.

Weapons of Victory

The second world became a stellar hour of the enterprise. The plant named after Degtyarev (Kovrov) produced weapons, which became symbols of victory. For example, the antitank gun Degtyarev was designed in 20 days. The demand was so high that the samples were sent to the front immediately after the fire. In many respects thanks to this gun it was possible to stop the onslaught of the Wehrmacht tanks at the beginning of the war.

The second recognizable product of ZiDa was the legendary Shpagin - PPSh automaton. The constructor was from the peasants and understood that soldiers needed a very simple but reliable machine. To disassemble the PPSh in the field, no tool was required.

In total for 1941-1945 the plant named after Degtyarev delivered to the front 1202481 a unit of weapons for various purposes. In 1945 the company was rightly awarded the Order of Lenin.

The post-war period

The end of the war did not bring long-awaited peace. The Cold War, on the contrary, required the expansion of the range of weapons. Since 1959 the plant named after Degtyarev has established the production of rocket technology. Highlights of the company are highly efficient MANPADS and reactive guided missiles. To date, portable missile systems are the most profitable.

Degtyarev Plant: Products

Most of the military are well acquainted with the "classics" of the plant - RPD-44 machine guns and anti-tank grenade launchers of the RPG-7 family. The continuity of traditions is also observed in modern weapons. The pride of the Carpet weavers is the new Kord machine gun, which embodies the long-term achievements of the ZiDa Design School.

The RPG-7 was replaced by more formidable and sophisticated mobile missile systems: the Kornet ATCM fighter and the low-flying apparatus of the Igla missile. Over the past 10 years hundreds of thousands of guided missiles and missiles for shooting from helicopters, tanks, and self-propelled guns have entered the army.

Other types of weapons:

• Sniper complexes 12.7 mm series 6S8;
• Guns aviation families GSh-23 and GSh-30K;
• Grenade launchers anti-sabotage DP-64 and DP-65;
• Grenade launcher complexes RGS-50M and AGS-30;
• Marine installations of the MTU series;
• Kalashnikov machine guns of the PKM, PKMS, PKTM, PKMB series;
• Other types of small arms and missile weapons.

Civil products are represented by hunting carbines of the SVT-O series, motor cultivators and motor-blocks, lawn mowers, quad bikes, mopeds, road motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles. In Soviet times, ZiD produced legendary motorcycles "Sunrise."

Cord

The most successful domestic machine gun, of course, is the famous "Cord", developed in 1998. Its excellent rate of fire (up to 650 rpm) and efficiency (caliber 12.7 mm, range of aiming to 2 km) are confirmed in local conflicts.

The pride of the product is the ZYD branded quick-release trunk. Its cooling system is such that, during shooting, it heats evenly along the entire length. This allows you to maintain high accuracy with long-term fire control. According to this indicator, "Cord" twice exceeds the machine gun "Cliff" of Soviet production.

The weapon is distinguished by phenomenal survivability. It continues to shoot accurately after icing, immersion in water, without many days of cleaning. The cartridge 12,7x108 mm breaks the 20-mm armor of land vehicles and aircraft (at altitudes up to 1.5 km).

Warrior

The introduction of promising army equipment such as "Ratnik" required a fundamentally new small arms. AK-47, despite its tremendous reliability, no longer meets the requirements of modern wars. In the struggle for the right to equip soldiers with automata of the 21st century, the Degtyarev plant also joined. The designers presented a unique in the characteristics of the model A-545, which is an improved version of the automatic device AEK-971.

A special feature of the design is the mechanism, which eliminates the recoil - the so-called telescopic balancer. It makes firing smooth, which provides high accuracy, unattainable for most small arms.

Initially, the special commission was inclined to accept the development of the Kalashnikov AK-12 concern as the main combined-arms machine due to its simpler design and cheaper production. However, considering the outstanding shooting performance of the A-545, it was decided to introduce both models into the troops.