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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