Kalashnikov: The Man And Assault Rifle
Author: peter Date: 14 November, Category: Educative, Visits 4224
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the father of the worlds most popular assault rifle, is handed an AK-74 November 23, 2002 in Izhevsk, 1000 East km. from Moscow. November 23 marked the 55th anniversary of the release of the first Kalashnikov gun. Mikhail Kalashnikov welcomed Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to the celebrations at the Izhmash plant. According to the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategic and Technologies some 70 million to 100 million Kalashnikovs have been built worldwide since 1947, compared about 7 million to Kalashnikovs Western rival the M-16 assault rifles. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
A boy sits near an AK-47 assault rifle at a FARC check point February 26, 2001 in Cristales, Colombia. The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is the countrys largest rebel group and has been waging an insurgency against the government for decades, at the cost of some 3,000 lives a year. (Photo by Carlos Villalon/Newsmakers)
Fighters of the UNITA pro-Western forces armed with a local variant of the AK-47 Kalashnikov during the civil war in Angola. (Photo by Cloete Breytenbach/Getty Images). 1977
An AK-47 assault rifle rests against a sign at the entrance of a paramilitary training center for park rangers July 21, 2006 at Ishango in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 500 Congolese rangers have been trained at the center in the last year to fight highly armed poachers who have ravished eastern Congos wildlife population in recent years, taking advantage of the chaos caused by war. The center, run by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, has been funded by European, American and UN donors. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

In this frame grab handout image released March 8, 2004 by Hamas nearly a year after their deaths, British Muslim suicide bombers, 27-year-old Omar Khan Sharif (R) and 22-year-old Asif Muhahmmad Hanif stand together in uniform as they hold AK 47 rifles, and stand together under a poster of Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Maqadmehin, February 8, 2003 in Gaza Strip. The 22-year-old Briton of Pakistani descent blew himself up at Mikes Place, a jazz club on Tel Avivs beach promenade April 30, 2003, killing three people in an attack claimed by Hamas. Hanifs partner in the attack, 27-year-old Sharif, attempted to detonate his bomb, but failed, then fled the scene. His body later washed ashore on a Tel Aviv beach. (Photo via Getty Images)

A Palestinian gunman gives his AK-47 assault rifle to a young girl to hold October 26, 2001 in the al-Azzar refugee camp, as he takes a break from fighting with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Israeli tanks and troops remained in their positions in West Bank towns despite calls for their withdrawal from the United States. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
Inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, General Mikhail Kalashnikov, launches the new brand of Kalashnikov Vodka, on September 20, 2004 in London, England. The new vodka – the idea of British entrepreneur John Florey – is distilled in St Petersburg and retails for about USD24 a bottle. (Photo by Getty Images)
A soldier in the anti-government army of the Sudan holds his Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic rifle at the ready. (Photo by John Downing/Express/Getty Images). 8th March 1971
Iraqi Police learn weapons handling with the AK-47 at the Jordan International Police Training Center September 4, 2005 in Amman, Jordan. About 300 instructors, mostly former and current police officers, from 17 different countries are training Iraqi Police in marksmanship, patrol tactics, self defense, community policing, and other police tactics. Approximately 1,500 policemen a month graduate from the school before being assigned to police stations throughout Iraq. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
An AK 47 rifle is laid against the wall of a make shift militia mosque on August 20, 2004 in Najaf. A spokesman for Moqtada al-Sadr said today that the militia will hand the shrine of Imam Ali to a committee of clerics, while fighting continues in the city. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
General Mikhail Kalashnikov, launches the new brand of Kalashnikov Vodka, on September 20, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Getty Images)
A Palestinian woman holds an AK-47 above her head as she shouts pro-Arafat slogans during a rally to mark the 39th anniversary of the Palestinian National Liberation Movements (Fatah) foundation on December 31, 2003 in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered at the Palestinian Legislative council to mark the anniversary of the 1965 founding of Fatah. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images)
A child soldier loyal to the government fires at rebels July 23, 2003 at a key bridge in Monrovia, Liberia. Clashes continued in the Liberian capital, despite a call for a cease fire by leaders of the LURD rebel group. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
An AK-47 rifle and a Quraan are pictured against a wall in a fighters nest on November 7, 2004 in the city of Fallujah, Iraq. The Mujahadeen are preparing for a major U.S. offensive against their city. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
A shop advertising AK-47 assault rifles and pistols stands next to a school for Islamic studies, or [madrassa], September 10, 2006 in the tribal area of Sakhacot in western Pakistan. Small shops produce and sell thousands of weapons to people in the area near the porous border with Afghanistan. U.S. military commanders complain that Taliban fighters stage attacks on coalition troops from safe havens in the Pakistani tribal areas. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
A Palestinian boy holds a gunmans AK-47 assault rifle during a round of fighting with Israeli soldiers October 26, 2001 in the al-Azzar refugee camp located within the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Israeli forces maintained their positions in West Bank towns despite calls for their withdrawal from the United States. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
A shopkeeper shows off his wares, Russian, Chinese and Pakistani-made AK-47 assault rifles, September 10, 2006 in the tribal area of Sakhacot in western Pakistan. Small shops produce and sell thousands of weapons to people in the area near the porous border with Afghanistan. U.S. military commanders complain that well-armed Taliban fighters stage attacks on coalition troops from safe havens in the Pakistani tribal areas. The Russian AK-47 retail price was $410, the Chinese $300 and the locally made Pakistani version just $125. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Police officer, colonel Tatiana Osetrova congratulates Mikhail Kalashnikov, the father of the worlds most popular assault rifle, November 23, 2002 in Izhevsk,1000 East km. from Moscow. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
A village guard show his AK-47 in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, October 19, 2007. Turkeys parliament resoundingly approved a motion on Wednesday allowing troops to cross into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels there, but its Western allies and Baghdad urged Ankara to refrain from military action. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)
Afghan police recruit, Masuma, 18, fires her AK-47 assault rifle during training at a regional police training center on June 6, 2006 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Police receive a 5-9 week training course supervised by American contractors at the center. Afghan and coalition security forces are battling Taliban insurgents across southern Afghanistan. On Tuesday a suicide bomber reportedly rammed a U.S. convoy in the southeast Afghan province of Khost, injuring several American soldiers. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
A member of the 2-69 Armored Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division fires the AK-47 assault rifle during target practice November 24, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. The 2-69 periodically heads to an ad-hoc shooting range near their Baghdad base to fine-adjust their rifle sites and practice using the AK-47, the weapon of the Iraqi Army soldiers that they often train. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Kenyan policemen holding rifles confront demonstrators during clashes in the Mathare slums on January 20, 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya. International mediators have attempted to unlock political gridlock in the East African nation which has lost 600 people in severe post-election violence amid allegations that the incumbent president manipulated the December elections. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
Former French special forces arms instructor Norbert Tible teaches a Congolese park ranger the use of an AK-47 assault rifle July 21, 2006 at Ishango in the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 500 rangers have been trained in military techniques in the last year to fight highly armed poachers who have ravished eastern Congos wildlife population recently, taking advantage of the chaos caused by years of war. The center, run by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, has been funded by European, American and UN donors. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
An Iraqi Shiite man loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr holds his AK 47 during the fighting on August 6, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. Mahdi Army militia launched sustained attacks on U.S. and coalition troops across Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
Inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, General-Major Mikhail Kalashnikov, launches the new brand of Kalashnikov Vodka, on September 20, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Getty Images)