The Vepr assault rifle (Ukraine) was developed by the Ukrainian Scientific and Technical Center for Precision Engineering. The basis for the creation was the Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle of the 1974 model under the caliber of 5.45 millimeters. Today we’ll talk about how weapons were developed and provide a description of them.
History of creation
The Ukrainian Vepr assault rifle was proposed by Anatoly Anatolyev, who at that time held the post of chief of the weapons storage base. After some time, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine approved the proposal. Sergey Naumov (chief designer of the enterprise) was chosen as the project manager.
First impression
In 2003 (August 28, to be more precise), a press conference was held in Kiev at which authorized persons first introduced the Ukrainian Vepr assault rifle. The director of NTTCM of Ukraine also spoke at it. He said that the total cost of developing weapons amounted to about one hundred thousand dollars. It was also indicated that there are prerequisites for further mass production. However, this required additional investments. More specifically, this amount compared to the original increased immediately five times.
Plans and interference
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine had its views on these weapons. By the way, some people tend to call Ukrainian weapons “Vepr-12 assault rifle." However, this is wrong. The Ukrainian machine gun has the strict name “Boar” (“Boar” in Ukrainian). But “Vepr-12” with the addition of “Hammer” is already a Russian weapon. But it does not belong to the class of machine guns, but to the category of smoothbore carbines. What unites these two weapons is that they were developed on the basis of the AK-74.
But we are a little off topic. As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine wanted to look at the military tests of the machine. Their completion was scheduled for May 2004. A few months later, in September, the weapon was supposed to go off the assembly lines directly into the hands of soldiers of the Ukrainian army. However, until October 2004 inclusive, only ten prototypes were produced. It would be logical to assume that it was not possible to establish mass production.
Features and their price
The Vepr assault rifle, the conversion price of which from AK-74 amounted to 155 hryvnias, was not exported even as of 2013. A year later, according to official figures, not a single sample of this weapon was received by the troops. Now it is rather difficult to say something specifically about the price of the machine, since economic changes must be taken into account. Now there is no official information about its value. However, as of 2004, the cost of a new machine ranged from 150 to 160 dollars.
Vepr assault rifle: how it works and what is it based on?
As stated at the beginning of the article, the basis of the design was the device of a Kalashnikov assault rifle of the 1974 model. Many of its components and parts are used in the Ukrainian Vepr assault rifle. By the way, they can be used interchangeably. For the layout, the Bullpap scheme was chosen.
What other changes can be found?
Changes affected not only the layout. They have also been applied to controls. The designers carried the shutter handle far forward. When shooting, the handle, by the way, remains stationary. It can be rearranged from one side to the other, from right to left, and from left to right. The fuse switch is designed as a transverse slider. It can be found above the trigger. Such an innovation made it possible to achieve improved parameters for bringing weapons to full combat readiness. Also, the noise reproduced when switching.
Hardware
Now we are talking about the materials that were used in the manufacture of the butt plate of the butt, forearm, barrel and pistol grip. All this is made of black plastic. The elements themselves are metal weapons. At least their vast majority. Nevertheless, prolonged contact between the shooter and the metal of the weapon is practically excluded as such. Uneven cooling of the barrel will never be, because the designers completely covered it with overlays made of plastic.
Sights
The first prototypes of the Ukrainian Vepr assault rifle were equipped with software installed on the Soviet AK-74. However, as we recall, the layout of the weapons was changed, and this entailed a reduction in the sighting line. Actually, because of this, the diopter was replaced entirely. Like any other machine, the Ukrainian “Vepr” is equipped with standard-type sights. But the characteristic features of the weapon suggest the possibility of installing additional sights of the optical or collimator type. You can install a night vision scope.
Automatic "Vepr": recall and modifications
It is clear that we will not find those people who could share their impressions of firing from this weapon, since it is a prototype dedicated to the troops. However, we may well talk about what modifications and variations “Boar” has.
Hunting carbine "Boar"
It was developed in 1994 and presented in Kiev at the Weapon-95 exhibition. Designed for a 7.62 mm caliber cartridge. The basis for the design provided by AKM. The self-loading carbine never got into mass production. The demonstration model, which was presented at the arms exhibition of '95, was equipped with two stores. One was designed for 5 rounds, the second had twice the capacity.
Automatic “Vepr" sample 2004
The modification was equipped with a grenade launcher. It was developed on the basis of GP-25. It is interesting that when firing, such a modification behaved more stably, although the mass of the machine itself did not increase. Most likely, the matter was a change in balance, which was becoming more familiar. In this sample, the fuse was intended immediately for both the machine itself and the grenade launcher. The simultaneous pressing of the corresponding triggers as a result of this seems impossible.
Automatic "Malyuk"
Used a caliber of 5.45. Barrel length - 415 mm. Distinctive features: Picatinny rail mounting , the ability to install removable bipod, silencer. The designers used their experience gained during the development of “Boar” and corrected about 12 shortcomings.