This light machine gun in AK-400 system is designated as RPK- 16 in the education field. Through unremitting promotion, the Russian Ministry of Defence expressed its interest in RPK- 16 in the summer of 20 17. After completing the initial test, the Ministry of National Defense received a batch of RPK- 18 for field test. At the same time, this light machine gun was also exhibited at the Russian military fairs Army-20 16 and Army-20 18, and other Russian law enforcement agencies and potential foreign customers showed great interest in it.
The design of RPK 16 light machine gun completely subverts the traditional design concept of old Soviet-made weapons and pays more attention to the portability of weapons. The barrel cannot be replaced quickly, but it needs to be disassembled, but it is also a very advanced function. The Russian army's positioning of this new machine gun is also very interesting, which can be used as both an assault rifle and a light machine gun. This so-called "neither fish nor fowl" mixed feature is actually the same.
The gun adopts telescopic folding stock, and there are picatinny rail in the box, at the top of the hand guard plate and at the lower part of the hand guard plate, and optical sight and tripod can be installed. In addition, a muffler can be installed at the barrel mouth. The special 96-type large-capacity drum can provide continuous fire support for soldiers. The size of RPK- 16 is similar to that of AK- 12 assault rifle, but the heavy barrel and stronger shell structure enable the gun to provide intensive continuous firepower in a short time. When installing a long barrel, it can provide accurate firepower extension in the middle and long range.
From the appearance, the difference between RPK- 16 and AK- 12 is that the length of the floating guard wood is longer, there are longitudinal stiffeners at the joint between the lower shell and the guard wood, the muzzle device is different, and the barrel is thicker. The operation flow of quick disassembly and replacement of barrel is slightly different from AK- 12. This gun uses AK-74 series and AK- 12 magazines, but Kalashnikov Group has specially equipped it with 95 large-capacity drums (in fact, this drum can also be used for AK- 12 or other AK rifles with the same caliber).
The stock, case, armguard and even sight are all desert colors, and the RPK- 16 machine gun adopts an open four-pronged flame arrester. According to reports, this machine gun can shoot at a single shot, and it can hit a target with a diameter of 20 cm within the range of 300 meters to 400 meters, and the firing rate of its 5.45 mm bullet is enough to destroy the enemy's effective strength 800 meters away. RPK- 16 weighs only 4.5 kilograms when it is neatly equipped. You can shoot on the ground or shoot up. You can even shoot while charging.