“To Replace the Kalash”: Russian Intelligence Officers Received KORD Assault Rifles

Russian intelligence officers have begun to receive A-545 KORD assault rifles with balanced automatic weapons that minimize recoil.

The new weapon was seen in the hands of a Russian soldier giving an interview to Russian media.

Some reconnaissance units of the Guards units that are part of the occupation grouping of the Vostok Battalion have begun receiving the new model assault rifles instead of the usual Kalashnikov models, such as AKM, AK-74 or AK-12.

“This is our standard assault rifle, and now we have started to issue it for general use. It has practically no recoil, it is negligible,” says a Russian intelligence officer.

The main feature of the new weapon is the use of balanced automation, which compensates for the energy of the recoil. According to the soldier, a 30-round magazine can be fired in a single burst with minimal dispersion.

A significant reduction in recoil was achieved by the designers of the Degtyaryov Plant (ZiD), who worked out the original design solution on its predecessor, AEK-971.

It is achieved by using a movable balancer that moves opposite to the bolt group and thus dampens the recoil impulse. The bolt and the balancer are connected by a synchronization gear, which ensures simultaneous and uniform movement of both parts.

Due to the compensation of recoil energy, the sideways movement of the barrel becomes minimal, and therefore requires minimal effort from the shooter to maintain the line of sight when firing bursts.

The main disadvantage of the balanced automatic weapon is the complexity of the weapon’s design and maintenance, as well as its increased weight as A-545 is about 700 grams heavier than the AK-12 assault rifle.

A less global, but no less important advantage of the Kovrov assault rifle is the new design of the receiver with a lid in the rear, which allowed for the placement of a rigidly fixed picatinny mount on top. This made it possible to conveniently mount the sights and eliminate the risk of “knocking down” the sighting parameters during maintenance. At the same time, this drawback has somehow remained on Kalashnikov assault rifles to this day.

In 2015-2017, the A545 “5.45 mm Automatic KORD” assault rifle (GRAU index 6P67) participated in the competition for a new generation assault rifle for Russian infantrymen, but lost to AK-12. The reasons for this choice were the simplicity of the latter’s design and low cost of production, as well as the already deployed production facilities for it in Izhevsk.

Instead, the Russian Ministry of Defence recommended the adoption of 5.45  mm KORD for arming special forces units. In 2020, it was reported that a small batch had been purchased for the needs of the Special Operations Forces and some airborne units.

In the Russian-Ukrainian war, this assault rifle was only sporadically used by Russian special forces. Its delivery to the reconnaissance units of army units in 2025 may indicate unannounced purchases of KORDs.

This month it also became known that some elite units of the Russian Armed Forces had begun to receive RPL-20 light machine guns in 5.45 mm caliber. Previously, the Russian army did not have a full-fledged machine gun in this caliber.