Father of “Kalashnikov” turns 90
Published 10 November, 2009, 23:32
Edited 27 November, 2009, 11:46
The famous AK-47 rifle has remained unsurpassed in its durability and reliability for almost 70 years. Its creator Mikhail Kalashnikov marks his 90th birthday on Tuesday.
Mikhail Kalashnikov dreamt about protecting people, but his invention became the weapon of choice for two-thirds of the world’s armed forces, not to mention militants. In spite of this, Kalashnikov preaches a message of peace and kindness.
On his 90th birthday, Kalashnikov is still the biggest gun maker in Russia’s arms industry, collecting awards and dreaming about a weapon to outperform the AK-47.
“To make something simple is one thousand times harder than making something complicated. As somebody who fought in the Second World War I knew very well that this rifle will be handled not by experts, but by simple guys like myself,” Kalashnikov says.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has personally awarded the famous gun designer with the top state prize, the Star of Hero of Russia.
“One of Kalashnikov’s main principles is that the weapon should contain no small parts – so as not to lose them in combat,” says Vadim Kozyulin, director of the Conventional Arms Program.
In the RT studio he demonstrated how to disassemble an AK-47 using a model.
For the 25-year-old Kalashnikov who started his designs in a hospital while recovering from a war wound, it was not just a concept – it was a matter of survival.
The rifle came into its own during the Vietnam War when US troops often removed AK-47s from dead Vietnamese soldiers, preferring them to their own sophisticated, but unreliable US-made M-16 rifles.
Yet, unlike the inventor of the M-16, who received a dollar for every one of his creations, Kalashnikov failed to capitalize on his invention.
“I am a child of the time when patents didn't exist. So I didn't patent my design. Kalashnikov rifles are counterfeited across the world. Neither my country, nor my plant, nor I got anything from that,” Kalashnikov complains.
Consequently, his monthly pension is four times less than the sale price of a single AK-47 – yet another irony in the life of the man who dreamt of defending peace with a rifle.
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