Have you heard? The AK-47, the Russian designed Kalashnikov gun, the most successful weapon of all time that is the symbol of Nigerian police and so many terrorists worldwide is getting a makeover. yay! The days of accidental discharge would totally be over ba?
Its now branded as the weapon of peace. It was a famous weapon during the Vietnam war, touted the cheapest, most efficient and easy to use automatic rifle, so easy (sadly) child soldiers handle it flawlessly.
Excerpts of the video voice over in the re branding video says watch video here
“It precipitated not just a technological but a social revolution. Freedom movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America could at last fight back against professional colonial armies. The AK-47 gave them the chance to demand rights and achieve justice. This is a weapon which helped people defend their families and futures, and demand the right to a peaceful future.”
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| Mikhail kalashnikov and gun |
The company’s most famous gun was developed by the Soviet engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1947 and quickly became a mainstay of wars and civil conflicts across the world, known for its ease of use and reliability. The weapons are manufactured at a plant in Izhevsk, a city in Russia’s Urals region.
Kalashnikov Concern was created by a merger of the Kalashnikov brand, Baikal hunting rifles and Izhmash sports rifles. Kalashnikov Concern plans to release a range of sportswear and knives as well as its traditional lines of weaponry.
Kalashnikov Concern gets a new black-and-red CK logo (not to be confused with Calvin Klein), while the rifle brand gets a red K, which looks more like the logo of a supermarket or chemist chain than that of an internationally renowned killing machine, but on close inspection can be seen to contain the distinctive curved magazine used in Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Kalashnikov himself died last year in Izhevsk, aged 94. Shortly before his death he wrote a letter of repentance to the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, asking whether he should seek forgiveness for creating a weapon that had been responsible for so much death. The patriarch reportedly replied that the weapon had been used “in defence of the motherland” and said Kalashnikov had given an example of “patriotism and serving one’s country”.
With the embers of war being seriously fanned by the two leading political parties in Nigeria, hopefully Russia wont look to us to make up for the lost export to the US due to sanctions over purported Putin’s involvement in the eastern Ukrainian conflict.
Would you mind owning one?
