OJSC "Plant named after V. A. Degtyarev" is one of the leaders of the Russian defense industry. He produces weapons for the fleet, ground forces, aviation, special services. The products of the enterprise are used by armies of 17 countries of the world. The factory specializes in machine guns and rapid-firing guns of various calibers, sniper systems, complex grenade launchers. It also produces motorcycles and mopeds.
Pages of history
For more than a hundred years , the Degtyarev Plant (ZiD) has been manufacturing military products. With the outbreak of World War I, the realization came that Russian troops lacked light and mobile automatic small arms. In 1916, with a significant delay, the “First Russian Joint-Stock Company of Weapon and Machine Gun Plant” was established. He was ordered to quickly establish the production of light machine guns (machine guns) under a license purchased from the Danes. However, instead of a thousand products by the middle of 1917, only 4 prototypes were produced.
The revolution did not prevent the development of the enterprise. On the contrary, the Soviet government ordered the restoration of unfinished production. Vladimir Fedorov was entrusted with the management of the plant, and Vasily Degtyarev, who later founded the leading design shooting school, became his assistant and student.
Weapon of victory
World War II became the finest hour of the enterprise. The plant named after Degtyarev (Kovrov) produced weapons that became symbols of victory. For example, Degtyarev’s anti-tank rifle was designed in 20 days. The demand was so high that the produced samples were sent to the front immediately after the shooting. Largely thanks to this gun, it was possible to stop the onslaught of the Wehrmacht tanks at the beginning of the war.
The second recognizable product of ZiD was the legendary Shpagin submachine gun - PPSh. The designer was from peasants and understood that a very simple but reliable machine was needed for the soldiers. In order to disassemble the PCA in the field, no tool was required.
In total, from 1941-1945, the Degtyarev Plant delivered to the front 1202481 weapons for various purposes. In 1945, the enterprise was rightly awarded the Order of Lenin.
Post-war period
The end of the war did not bring the long-awaited peace. The Cold War, on the contrary, demanded the expansion of the range of weapons. Since 1959, the Degtyarev Plant launched the production of rocketry. Highlighted MANPADS and rockets guided missiles became the highlight of the enterprise. To date, it is portable missile systems that bring the greatest income.
Degtyarev Plant: products
Most of the military are familiar with the “classics” of the plant - RPD-44 machine guns and RPG-7 family anti-tank grenade launchers. The continuity of traditions is observed in modern weapons. The pride of the Kovrovites is the new Kord machine gun, which embodies the many years of experience of the ZiD design school.
The RPG-7 was replaced by more formidable and advanced mobile missile systems: the Kornet ATGM fighter and a thunderstorm of Igla MANPADS. Over the past 10 years, the army has received hundreds of thousands of guided missiles and missiles for firing from helicopters, tanks, and self-propelled guns.
Other weapons:
- 12.7 mm sniper systems of the 6C8 series;
- guns aviation families GSh-23 and GSh-30K;
- anti-sabotage grenade launchers DP-64 and DP-65;
- RGS-50M and AGS-30 grenade launchers;
- marine installations of the MTPU series;
- Kalashnikov machine guns of the PKM, PKMS, PKTM, PKMB series;
- other types of small arms and missile weapons.
Civilian products are represented by hunting carbines of the SVT-O series, motor cultivators and motor blocks, lawn mowers, ATVs, mopeds, road motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles. In Soviet times, ZiD produced the legendary Sunrise motorcycles.
Cord
The most successful domestic machine gun, of course, is the famous "Cord", developed in 1998. Its excellent rate of fire (up to 650 rpm) and efficiency (12.7 mm caliber, aimed firing range up to 2 km) are confirmed in local conflicts.
The pride of the product is the company ZiDovsky quick-release trunk. Its cooling system is such that when firing it heats evenly over its entire length. This allows you to maintain high accuracy during prolonged firing. According to this indicator, “Kord” is twice as superior to the Soviet-made “Utes” machine gun.
The weapon is phenomenal survivability. It continues to shoot accurately after icing, immersion in water, without many days of cleaning. The 12.7x108 mm cartridge pierces the 20 mm armor of ground vehicles and aircraft (at altitudes up to 1.5 km).
Warrior
The introduction of promising army equipment like "Warrior" required a fundamentally new small arms. AK-47, despite its amazing reliability, no longer meets the requirements of modern wars. In the struggle for the right to equip soldiers with machine guns of the 21st century, the Degtyarev factory also joined. The designers presented a unique model A-545, which is an improved version of the machine AEK-971.
A design feature is the recoil suppressing mechanism - the so-called telescopic balancer. It makes shooting smooth, which ensures high accuracy, unattainable for most small arms.
At first, the special commission was inclined to accept the development of the Kalashnikov AK-12 concern as the main combined-arms machine due to its simpler design and cheaper production. However, given the outstanding shooting performance of the A-545, it was decided to introduce both models into the troops.