Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

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Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Fall »

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The inventor of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov has reportedly died at the age of 94.

For most of his life, Kalashnikov was feted as an uncontroversial hero.

The self-taught peasant turned tank mechanic who never finished high school, but achieved a remarkable and lasting feat of engineering, while still in his twenties.

But as the rifles, inextricably linked forever to their creator by their name, were more and more commonly seen in the hands of terrorists, radicals and child soldiers, the inventor was often forced to defend himself to journalists.

He was forever asked if he regretted engineering the weapon that probably killed more than any other in the last fifty years.

"I invented it for the protection of the Motherland. I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it," he told them.

On a few occasions, when in a more reflective mood, the usually forceful Kalashnikov wondered what might have been.

"I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists," he said once.

"I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work – for example a lawnmower."

Indeed, at his museum in Izhevsk, where he spent most of his life working at the factory that was eventually named after him, there is an ingenious mechanical lawnmower Kalashnikov invented to easier care after his country house lawn.

It’s not what he will be remembered for.

Considering his age and circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Kalashnikov felt he could best serve his country by creating weapons.

Born in 1919, Mikhail was the seventeenth child of well-off peasants. When he was eleven, during Joseph Stalin’s dekulakization campaign his parents had their land confiscated, and the whole family was exiled to Siberia (a fact rarely mentioned in fawning Soviet-era biographies).

As the country began to mobilize ahead of a war that seemed inevitable, but was as yet undeclared, Kalashnikov chose to go into a tank brigade.

His engineering aptitude was immediately apparent.

He was allowed to create several modifications – a tank shot counter, a running time meter – that were to be adopted for the whole Red Army, and made him a celebrity. He was destined to go on an engineering course, when Operation Barbarossa intervened.

Kalashnikov’s own career as a tank commander was cut short in the first few months of the conflict on the Eastern Front, when an explosive shell ripped open his shoulder.

Kalashnikov says the germ of the idea came to him as he recuperated in hospital.

But the invention of the AK-47 was not a Eureka moment, but a trial-and-error process of modifications and improvements undertaken by a team over six years.

While for propaganda purposes Kalashnikov’s invention was presented as a radically new development, it was based on several principles that had already been seen in British, Russian and Italian weapons to which the inventor had easy access as he drew up his blueprints.

Its main precursor was the German StG 44, the first truly effective automatic weapon of World War II.

But at the same time, Kalashnikov’s masterstroke, and the reason AK-47s remain the most popular rifle more than sixty years on, was to combine the mechanisms of previous weapons to create something with a completely new function.

AK-47 is not a weapon designed for accuracy tests at the firing range. It is conceived as a weapon for firefights at close quarters, in harsh Russian conditions.

For this purpose, it is perfect.

It can be assembled by a person with no military training, it is fired by simply pointing at a target, and it can be easily looked after without a cleaning kit. It does not jam by itself (due to the generous allowances between moving parts, which also explain its mediocre accuracy at range) and it does not stop functioning in any weather conditions.
http://rt.com/news/kalashnikov-dies-inventor-ak-47-887/
Last edited by Fall on Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Khalid Ali »

Great inventor his invention brought allot of great things to do the world it helped people defeat tyranny the world will remember you.

RIP
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Fall »

Over a 100 Million AK47s have been produced since he invented it.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Somali-Transporter »

Woow this guy will take alot of sins for a single human being into his grave...
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by original dervish »

Don`t be silly.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Fall »

Somali-Transporter wrote:Woow this guy will take alot of sins for a single human being into his grave...
He didn't kill them though. I've done a bit of research on him and he explains it was not his goal to create weapons, when the Nazis headed towards Russia the Soviet Union mobilized everyone, he happened to come of help using his mechanical knowledge to create extensions of military equipment and eventually make the AK-47. The Red Army needed easily assembled, mass-produced weapons that could be used to crush the Third Reich. He just happened to be the man who could invent that. He even says he would prefer the war didn't happen and he invented tools which help people positively and he did create those things like a lawnmower but he is not famous for them.

Blaming him for the AK47 would be akin to blaming early humans for creating the knife.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Somali-Transporter »

Fall wrote:
Somali-Transporter wrote:Woow this guy will take alot of sins for a single human being into his grave...
He didn't kill them though. I've done a bit of research on him and he explains it was not his goal to create weapons, when the Nazis headed towards Russia the Soviet Union mobilized everyone, he happened to come of help using his mechanical knowledge to create extensions of military equipment and eventually make the AK-47. The Red Army needed easily assembled, mass-produced weapons that could be used to crush the Third Reich. He just happened to be the man who could invent that. He even says he would prefer the war didn't happen and he invented tools which help people positively and he did create those things like a lawnmower but he is not famous for them.

Blaming him for the AK47 would be akin to blaming early humans for creating the knife.
you might be right.. but that weapon have killed more then the sword or any other weapon.. damn you ak47! :damn:
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Siciid85 »

He took the german Stg44 design and made it better.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Fall »

Siciid85 wrote:He took the german Stg44 design and made it better.
Stg 44 :wow:

Makes me remember my Call of Duty 5 days.
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by ToughGong »

His invention was a neccesary evil,unlike Openheimer and others who fashioned the atomic bomb
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Arabman »

But as the rifles, inextricably linked forever to their creator by their name, were more and more commonly seen in the hands of terrorists, radicals and child soldiers, the inventor was often forced to defend himself to journalists.
Very convenient of him to lament about 'terrorists' and 'radicals' (aka Muslims) whose casualties do not exceed 50k (very liberal number), whereas the Russians alone caused millions of casualties through the AK-47. :down:
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by saacJabshee »

Imagine thousands of people pointing at you and blaming you for their death in judgement day?
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Fall »

saacJabshee wrote:Imagine thousands of people pointing at you and blaming you for their death in judgement day?
Yeah he didn't kill them.......
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by Lillaahiya »

^ He's just the weapon inventor...
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Re: Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47 dies at age 94

Post by SultanOrder »

ToughGong wrote:His invention was a neccesary evil,unlike Openheimer and others who fashioned the atomic bomb
Are you sure the atomic bomb wasn't one as well? The Germans, and Japanese both had programs trying to create an atomic bomb, it's just America got it first. I don't think it should of ever been used, or created.

AK 47 is a terrible weapon, it has made killing cheap and easy. Something that should never of been. How many conflicts have been prolonged because of it? :down:
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