Origin

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was one of the two dominant military powers of the 20th century. Soviet arms designers produced the AK-47 (Kalashnikov), RPG-7, T-34 and T-54 tanks, and the Mosin-Nagant rifle — weapons that were exported globally and remain in use in conflicts worldwide.

Soviet Union Arms & Weapons

Overview

The Soviet Union (1922–1991) was born from the chaos of WWI and civil war, and spent its entire existence preparing for the next great conflict. Soviet weapons philosophy emphasized simplicity, reliability, ease of mass production, and suitability for use by minimally trained soldiers in extreme conditions. These priorities produced some of history's most widely distributed and durable weapons.

The Soviet arms industry, centered on factories relocated east of the Urals during WWII, produced weapons in quantities that staggered Western analysts. During WWII alone, Soviet factories produced over 6 million PPSh-41 submachine guns.

WWII Weapons

Mosin-Nagant M91/30 — The standard Soviet infantry rifle; 7.62×54mmR; bolt-action; over 17 million produced during WWII alone
SVT-40 — Semi-automatic rifle; technically excellent; complex; production limited vs. the simpler Mosin
PPSh-41 — The iconic Soviet WWII submachine gun; 900 rounds/minute; 71-round drum or 35-round box; simple and reliable in extreme cold; entire Soviet units were armed exclusively with PPSh-41s
PPS-43 — Simplified SMG; even cheaper to produce; used by Leningrad factory workers during the siege
DP-27 — Light machine gun; pan magazine; gas-operated; the Soviet squad automatic weapon
PTRS-41/PTRD-41 — Anti-tank rifles; 14.5mm; effective against early German armor
T-34 — The tank that won WWII on the Eastern Front; sloped armor; reliable diesel engine; 76mm gun (later 85mm); produced in 57,000+ examples
IS-2 — Heavy tank; 122mm gun; could destroy a Tiger at battle range
Katyusha (BM-13) — Multiple launch rocket system; truck-mounted 132mm rockets; devastating area weapon; feared by German forces

Cold War Weapons

AK-47/AKM — The most produced weapon in history; see AK-47 entry
RPG-7 — The world's most widely used anti-tank weapon; shoulder-fired; reusable; simple enough that any soldier could be trained quickly
PKM — 7.62mm GPMG; belt-fed; the Soviet/Russian standard medium machine gun; widely exported
Dragunov SVD — Semi-automatic 7.62×54mmR sniper/designated marksman rifle
9M14 Malyutka (AT-3 Sagger) — Wire-guided ATGM; used devastatingly against Israeli armor in 1973
SA-7 Grail — First widely exported MANPADS
T-54/T-55 — The most produced tank in history (100,000+); the standard Cold War Soviet tank
T-72 — Main Soviet battle tank from the 1970s; widely exported; still in use in dozens of armies

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AK-47

The AK-47 is the most produced firearm in human history: Mikhail Kalashnikov's gas-operated assault rifle in 7.62x39mm, built around loose tolerances, a long-stroke piston, and an almost contemptuous indifference to mud, sand, ice, and neglect. Adopted by the Soviet Army in the late 1940s and manufactured with its descendants in the tens of millions, it armed the Warsaw Pact, both sides of dozens of insurgencies, and became a literal flag emblem — the weapon as twentieth-century geopolitics.