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The Russian firm Izhmash (Izhevsk Mechanical Works) holds the patents for the AK-47, and it is going broke because of all the illegal copies of its weapons being produced worldwide. Izhmash is having little success in trying to force companies in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Israel, China and the United States to pay licensing fees for the AK-47s they produce. The typical defense is that it is a much improved rifle, with only a superficial similarity to the Izhmash AK-47. Some claim that Russia abandoned the AK-47 design in the 1970s, when they switched to the 5.45mm AK-74. Actually, the original...

It produces the most popular automatic rifles in the world but the company that makes the Kalashnikov, or AK-47, is in trouble. It has had to deal with a slump in arms exports and competition from the makers of copycat versions around the world. Now a shady businessman has filed bankruptcy proceedings against the company. Even in his old age, Mikhail Kalashnikov still worries about the invention that defined his life. At a conference on the 60th anniversary of the weapon that he invented in 1947 -- the Avtomatni Kalashnikova (Automatic of Kalashnikov) or AK-47 -- the elderly weapons designer,...

Bloomberg so link only

THE Russian producer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the world's most ubiquitous firearm, is facing bankruptcy owing to falling orders. A court in the Russian region of Udmurtiya has accepted a bankruptcy petition filed against Izhmash, the country's biggest arms manufacturer and the maker of the rifle. The iconic weapon has been produced in the millions and adopted by 106 armed forces across the globe, but production in its home land is now in doubt. Another Russian company, Gremikha, claims that the AK's maker owes them £8 million, and has now gone to court to get its money. Arms sales...

Mihail Kalasnikov is admitting he was "helped" by the German inventor and arms maker Hugo Schmeisser to create the AK-47 assault rifle -- The German inventor developed the first assault weapon Sturmgewehr 44 during WWII. After the end of the war Schmeisser was displaced and forced to work in the Soviet Union. Read on

Gun manufacturing in the Pakistan boondocks. In the clip below you'll see an amazing 'industry' in Pakistan turning out 1000 weapons a day and have done so for seventy years. That is over 25 million firearms...and we think they can be subdued...maybe after killing them all. Mr. Obama has a tall job in front of him, espescially if he believes that he can overcome Islam and their arms to achieve their end... Have a look...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia told Afghanistan on Wednesday to stop using illegal copies of weapons and to instead buy authentic, Russian-made hardware, news agencies reported. Russia, which expects to make a post-Soviet record of $8 billion from arms exports in 2008 according to the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, repeatedly has called for stricter control of licensed weapons technologies, particularly its popular Kalashnikov machinegun. "We cannot but be amazed that Afghanistan buys and uses weapons built with Russian technology, but not under Russian licence," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency. "It would...

Legendary former Russian general Mikhail Kalashnikov, who celebrated his 89th birthday on Monday, said he was a "truly happy man" for having created the iconic assault rifle bearing his name. "I think I am a truly happy man. I created a weapon for the defense of my country and it continues to serve this cause and develop," Kalashnikov was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency.

Jahingir Hanif was shown to have handled a military style rifle during a trip to Pakistan three years ago, in 2005. The video may have been leaked to the net because of an acrimonious divorce. His party has been one of the most vocal with irrational hatred of firearms, and reacted to the video by suspending him from the party, even though he is out of the country and cannot present a defense. It is rumored that he even allowed some of his children to learn to use firearms. While Mr. Hanif is not alleged to have done anything illegal,...

THE automatic Kalashnikov, the world’s most abundant firearm and a martial symbol with a multiplicity of meanings, turns 60 this year. In some places this is cause to shudder. In Russia it is treated as a milestone to celebrate, and a chance to cry foul. Once strictly Communist products, the AK-47 and its offspring are killing tools so durable and easy to use that they were heralded as achievements of state socialism and industrial might. Uncoupled from the laws of supply and demand by their origins in planned economies, they flowed from arms plants in the tens of millions, becoming...

Sixty years after the AK-47 went into production, Mikhail Kalashnikov says he does not stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed wrought by it, the world’s most popular assault rifle. “I sleep well. It’s the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence,” Kalashnikov said yesterday at a ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for “Avtomat Kalashnikov.”

MOSCOW - Sixty years after the AK-47 went into production, Mikhail Kalashnikov says he does not stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed wrought by the world's most popular assault rifle. "I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence," Kalashnikov said Friday at a ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for "Avtomat Kalashnikov." It was before he started designing the gun that he slept badly, worried about the superior weapons that Nazi soldiers were using with grisly effectiveness against the Red Army...

Khamenei Brandishes a Kalashnikov at US and Israel October 15, 2006 DEBKAfile The powerful spectacle of Iran’s be-turbaned supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei clutching an automatic rifle, displayed exclusively by DEBKAfile, drew on the belligerent imagery of Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein. The Iranian media suppressed this particular shot in its coverage of his sermon at Tehran University Oct. 13, the third Friday of Ramadan. But the AK 47 toted by the ruler of the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism was not missed by the political and military leaders in his audience and accentuated his war message. DEBKAfile’s Tehran sources...

ROME, Italy (AFP) - Italian authorities seized a container full of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and plastic explosives bound for the United States from Saudi Arabia in May, press reports said yesterday.

The photographs show the 21-year-old on the shoulders of an unidentified friend and the pair arm-in-arm. Melbourne Magistrates Court heard the photos formed part of a package sent anonymously to Australian Federal Police in March last year. It is believed they were taken during an overseas trip made by Joud to Lebanon in 2002.

06:42 GMT, Jul 03, 2006 Latest Headlines... Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets arrive in Venezuela MOSCOW/CARACAS. July 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets have landed in Caracas to join a military parade to mark the anniversary of Venezuela's independence from Spain on July 5, an official with the Russian defense and industrial complex told Interfax- AVN. "It has yet to be decided whether the planes will remain in that country until a contract is signed for the sale of 24 Su-30 fighter jets to Venezuela, or they will return home after the celebrations," the official said. sd md

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Russia will help Venezuela build plants to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition after the United States restricted arms sales to the South American nation, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday. Chavez also told a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, that a delivery of 30,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles was due to arrive from Russia in early June. "The Russians are going to install a Kalashnikov rifle plant and a munitions factory. So we can defend every street, every hill, every corner," he said in remarks broadcast in Venezuela. Washington banned all weapons sales to Chavez's leftist government...

The Mexican navy has selected Sukhoi’s Su-27 over the Saab/BAE Systems Gripen to equip its first air defence unit. Head of the service Adm Armando Sánchez Moreno says the new fleet of 10 fighters will enable the navy to carry out “strategic surveillance� over key areas of Mexico’s coastline. Preliminary selection work was initiated in early 2005, and the navy is now entering into contract negotiations with Russia’s Rosboronexport agency for the purchase of eight single-seat Su-27s and two Su-27UB two-seat trainers. Local sources indicate that the entire package – which also includes spare parts, tools and personnel training...

Iraq shows who’s top gun Moscow, April 17 (Reuters): Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the world’s most popular assault rifle, says that US soldiers in Iraq are using his invention in preference to their own weapons, proving that his gun is still the best. “Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That’s the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it,” the 86-year-old gunmaker told a weekend news conference in Moscow. “In Vietnam, American soldiers threw away their M-16 rifles and used (Kalashnikov) AK-47s from...

90% of Kalashnikov Rifles On World Market Knock-offs by Dmitry Gornostaev Apr 16, 2006 MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) -- Russia accounts for only 10-12% of about 1 million Kalashnikov assault rifles that are sold on the world market every year, the CEO of the Izhmash concern (state-owned military production company) said Saturday. "The rest are unlicensed copies," Vladimir Grodetsky said, adding that there was not a single license agreement conforming to the norms of international law, specifically on the protection of Russia's intellectual property rights in small arms and light weapons production. "In some instances, the terms of such...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the world's most popular assault rifle, says that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are using his invention in preference to their own weapons, proving that his gun is still the best. "Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That's the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it," the 86-year-old gunmaker told a weekend news conference in Moscow. "In Vietnam, American soldiers threw away their M-16 rifles and used (Kalashnikov) AK-47s from dead Vietnamese soldiers, with bullets they...

Nearly 15 years after the collapse of the USSR, America could encounter what would have been unthinkable during the Cold War - a hostile, communist nation on our southern border. If the plans of the Marxist president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, are successful, America's neighbor to the south will become a virtual enemy camp. For the past five years, Chavez has sent money and agents to Mexico to finance and infiltrate local political groups on the left, according to a Mexican news daily The goal is ideological -- pro-Chavez operatives want to dominate the increasingly powerful left wing in Mexico....

CARACAS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country is ready to buy Russian-built fighter jets, as the United States refuses to supply spare parts for its F-16 jets. At a military ceremony on Monday, Chavez expressed his appreciation for Russia's help, saying Venezuela will buy fighter jets from Russia and "keep them here to protect this land." He also thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for approving the sale of 33 military helicopters and 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles to Venezuela. Chavez also blamed Washington for forbidding Brazilian manufacturers from selling training aircraft to his country on...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A U.S. citizen accused of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush said in a videotaped confession that he was motivated by hatred of American support for Israel. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali also said on the tape, played in court for the first time Tuesday, that a top al-Qaida operative in Saudi Arabia "made it clear I became one of them and that I could speak in the name of al-Qaida." The 13-minute confession was videotaped in 2003 by authorities in Saudi Arabia, where Abu Ali attended college. His attorneys want the confession thrown out....

Venezuela, frequently coming to the agenda with its anti-US policies, aims to have the largest “voluntary reserve army� in the American continent by training two million civilians in the upcoming year. In this frame, About 500,000 voluntary civilians began the four-month military training program on Saturday. Venezuela will have the largest reserve army, double the size of US armed services reserves, in the American continent by the summer of 2007. Being a part of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “public army� plan, this army will directly intervene in possible civilian unrests and conflicts. In a statement to the British daily Guardian,...

<p>Greenville News, a Gannett publication, must be posted as a title and link only.</p>

Alison Storm News Channel 7 Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Advertisement Click here. His goal in life? Run the White House. Andrew Davis' goal for the week? Raise money for the newspaper he edits. "I just did a large expose on parking services." It's a conservative paper on Clemson's campus, pages known as delicious, conservative brain-food. "We make no qualms about being very biased of the right wing," he says. To help pay for printing costs, 20-year-old Andrew organized a raffle for a rifle: an AK-47. "We're hoping with this event to show people the AK-47 is no more dangerous than...

Venezuela has received the first three of at least 10 military helicopters purchased from Russia. Military officials say the three MI-17 helicopters arrived Tuesday in Caracas. Venezuela bought the helicopters as part of a $120 million deal signed last March. Caracas also agreed last year to buy 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. U.S. officials have criticized the deals, saying they could trigger an arms race, destabilizing the region. MI-17s can be used in an assault role or as a transport craft. Venezuelan military officials say the helicopters will be used to patrol the border with neighboring Colombia. The remaining helicopters...

I'm working on a piece of fiction and I can't seem to find this using Google. I'm sure some our gun enthusiasts would know. What's the standard rifle of the North Korean Army? Thanks.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spent over $2.17 billion in 2005 to acquire Russian assault rifles and helicopters, Spanish transport aircraft and missile-capable corvettes, and Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft. In January 2006, however, the U.S. State Department denied Spain and Brazil permission to sell Venezuela military transport and light attack aircraft containing U.S.-owned engine and avionics technology. The U.S. government’s action killed deals worth over $600 million to Spanish firm CASA-EADS and Brazil’s Embraer. It also created a major hindrance, albeit not an insurmountable obstacle, for the president’s military expansion plans. The Bolivarian revolution’s military weapons buying spree will continue...

Date: Feb 5, 2006 3:08 PM From: Kenneth T. Tellis kenttellis@gmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: The time for Russia to act in defense of its own interests As long as the Russian nation sits back and accepts the world situation as a fait accompli Russia is doomed to medocrity ... but Russia can and must put its own interests before all. Perhaps the Russian families who lost their sons, fathers and youth in Afghanistan, might do well to remember who created that situation for them. It was the US that spent millions of dollars in a proxy war, fought by US-armed,...

Venezuela's Chavez says he will not hesitate to buy MiG-29s from Russia... Green Left Weekly (Jim McIlroy): The Venezuelan government has informed Spain that it will shop elsewhere for military aircraft and patrol boats if Madrid cannot overcome Washington’s veto on selling items that contain US technology to Caracas. The US has also banned the sale by Brazil of Tucano training aircraft to Venezuela, because they contain US parts. “We’ll ask the Spaniards once and for all if they find it impossible to sell [the aircraft and boats] to us, in which case we will buy our patrol boats in...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is considering buying enough rifles to arm one million people ready to repel a possible US invasion. Chavez also threatened to close down his government's US-based refineries if Washington decided to cut diplomatic ties. During a speech warning his supporters that Washington was considering an invasion of Venezuela, Chavez said that 100,000 Russian-built Kalashnikov assault rifles would not be enough to defend the country. "We still need a higher number of rifles. The 100,000 Russian rifles are not enough, Venezuela needs to have one million well-equipped and well-armed men and women," he said. "I've...

After two minutes the lesson properly begins, with the voice of an unseen 'teacher' welcoming aspiring Jihadis, and explaining to viewers exactly how the various pieces of the gun are taken apart and what function each one has. Once dismantled, the viewer is shown how to re-assemble the Kalashnikov. The emergence of the video also coincides with repeated references in the same Internet forums to a new cargo of Kalashnikovs reported to have reached the Gaza Strip, after being smuggled in through Egypt a few days ago. The forums say the weapons are a more manageable model of Kalashnikovs currently...

Ayman al Zawahiri, the No. 2 man in al Qaeda's terror network, appeared on a videotape last week delivering a new warning of death and destruction to the West, unless coalition forces withdraw from Iraq and the West stops supporting corrupt regimes in the region. "Our message to you is clear, strong and final: There will be no salvation until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and resources and end support for infidel, corrupt rulers," said al Zawahiri, in the tape first aired on the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network. In short, there was nothing new in al...

MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) - Mikhail Kalashnikov, 85, the patriarch of Russian gun makers and designer of the most popular gun in the world - the Kalashnikov assault rifle, is as active as usual. He is to personally unveil his latest design at the MILEX 2005 international arms show in Minsk from May 17 to 20. According to Rosoboronexport - the only Russian state arms export intermediary, the legendary arms designer will also participate in the 2nd international scientific conference on military-technical, defense and security problems and dual-use technologies in Minsk. He is to deliver the report titled Russian...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Kalashnikov Joint Stock Vodka says it will be changing the name of its vodka in the UK after campaigners launched a boycott over the brand's military connections. The powerful Portman Group, an alcohol awareness group that counts drinks giants Diageo and Interbrew UK among its members, said on Thursday the branding could link alcohol with violent behaviour. A Kalashnikov spokeswoman said: "This is a funky and in-your-face brand, but we don't agree it causes people to take up armed conflict. "We'll be working with the Portman Group because we have to," she added. "Our vodka will...

After six years of “stoic tolerance,” the United States is awakening from the lethargy with which it has responded to President Chávez’ continuous verbal attacks. Perhaps it is beginning to see that it ought to take notice of the pronouncements made by this revolutionary, as, where Chávez is concerned, there seems to be no slip twixt cup and lip. The Bush administration is also beginning to realize that the influence of the Venezuelan president, supported by his ally Fidel Castro, could affect the peace and stability of Latin America. Until recently, the U.S. President’s response to President Chávez’ constant verbal...

The U.S. administration has made an official protest to Russia over the delivery to Venezuela of 100,000 Kalashnikov machineguns. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on the affair on Thursday. Kommersant sources in the Federal Service for Military Technology Cooperation suggested that they simply want to squeeze Russia out of the market for political motives. The contract for the purchase by Venezuela of 100,000 Kalashnikov AKMs for $50 million was signed during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to Moscow late last fall. The day after the contract was signed, the parliament of Colombia, which shares a border...

A British vodka named after the inventor of the AK47 assault rifle has come under fire. Drinks rivals reckon the name suggests violence. Kalashnikov Vodka was launched in September with the backing of 84-year-old Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of the rifle that bears his name. It is distilled in St. Petersburg, Russia, and imported to England by a British company, The Kalashnikov Joint Stock Vodka Co. (1947) PLC. Bottles of the product bear the Russian general's photo, and no image of the AK47. The Portman Group, a body representing major drinks companies including Allied Domecq, Diageo and Interbrew, said the...

IZHEVSK, Russia, July 24 - The bazaar in this industrial city shows why Western companies regard Russia as a land of piracy. Bootlegged copies of new American movies - "King Arthur,'' "Troy'' and "Spider-Man 2'' - sell for $3. Photoshop CS, a $600 program in Western stores, fetches $2.75. Markets like this, found throughout Russia, have been a longstanding subject of diplomatic complaint. Washington contends Russian intellectual-property pirates cost the United States more than $1 billion a year. Now Russia is striking back. A Russian industry and product designer are asserting that the United States has been abetting intellectual-property pirates...

... Now Russia is striking back. A Russian industry and product designer are asserting that the United States has been abetting intellectual-property pirates to suit its own needs, by directing copies of Russian merchandise around the world. The complaint is not about software or music. It makes no mention of movies or video games. It is about the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most prolific firearm ever made...

Iraqis collect $1.8m in gun amnesty From correspondents in Baghdad 23may04 THE US military has paid out $US1.3 million ($1.87m) to residents of Baghdad's Shiite Muslim district of Sadr City for turning in thousands of weapons and ammunition rounds. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt today said nearly 4000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and machineguns and about 9000 mortars and rockets had been turned in during the arms amnesty. Grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and artillery rounds were also collected. Meanwhile, Mr Kimmitt said a deal to halt combat patrols by the US-led coalition in the district for five days had collapsed due to...

AK-47s Headed to U.S. Had Legal Permits Wed Apr 28, 4:13 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A U.S.-bound shipment of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles and other combat-type weapons, seized by Italian authorities who suspected they were being smuggled, actually have legal permits to be imported, American officials said Wednesday. About 7,500 AK-47s, AKM rifles and other weapons worth an estimated $6 million were seized April 20 aboard a Turkish-flagged ship in the port of Gioia Tauro. They were bound for New York from Romania. At the...

Today: April 20, 2004 at 16:31:12 PDT Italy Seizes Weapons From U.S.-Bound ShipAIDAN LEWISASSOCIATED PRESS ROME (AP) - Authorities in southern Italy seized about 7,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles and other combat-grade firearms from a ship headed for New York, officials said Tuesday. The weapons - AK-47s, AKM rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million - were found mixed in with properly labeled guns in cargo containers on board a Turkish-flagged ship that docked at the port of Gioia Tauro, a police official said. Documents accompanying the cargo indicated the weapons were destined for a company in the U.S....

<p>April 22, 2004 -- A Florida-based arms company is at the center of the international probe into a New York-bound ship seized in Italy while laden with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles, The Post has learned.</p> <p>The AK-47s were apparently bound for Vermont.</p>

A Turkish ship headed for New York — and stuffed with thousands of AK-47s (search) and other Kalashnikov assault rifles — was seized en route in Italy, authorities said Tuesday. The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said. The ship MS Adnan Bayraktar, which bears a Turkish flag, had come from the Romanian port of Constanta (search) and was on its way to a stopover in New York when the bust was...

<p>ROME (AP) -- Authorities in southern Italy seized about 7,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles and other combat-grade firearms from a ship headed for New York, officials said Tuesday.</p> <p>The weapons - AK-47s, AKM rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million - were found mixed in with properly labeled guns in cargo containers on board a Turkish-flagged ship that docked at the port of Gioia Tauro, a police official said.</p>

Italy Seizes 8,000 Kalashnikovs Headed to U.S. Apr 20, 9:09 AM (ET) ROME (Reuters) - Italian customs officers seized more than 8,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons on a ship headed to the United States, officials said Tuesday. The arms, worth about $7.15 million, were discovered aboard a ship arriving from Romania that pulled into the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro on its way to the United States, Italy's customs said in a statement. According to the travel documents, the arms belong to a large U.S. company with headquarters in the state of Georgia. "We know that the...

<p>April 21, 2004 -- A Turkish ship headed for New York - and stuffed with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles and AK-47s - was seized en route in Italy, authorities said yesterday.</p> <p>The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said.</p>