Soviet and Russian small arms designer (1919–2013)
People connected to Mikhail Kalashnikov
He designed the most-produced firearm in history — a rifle so simple and so durable it became the standard weapon in conflicts on every continent. The AK-47 carries his initials, and by some counts, more than a hundred million have been made.
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 in the Soviet Union and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. A self-taught tinkerer who combined mechanical instinct with a studied understanding of weaponry, he developed the AK-47 assault rifle and went on to refine it into the AKM and AK-74, as well as designing the RPK light machine gun and PK machine gun. The weapons achieved what he called "battlefield ubiquity" — renowned for their reliability in any condition. He took pride in the reputation, insisting his rifle was "a weapon of defense" and "not a weapon for offense," th…
Sourced, dated quotes from Mikhail Kalashnikov
When a young man, I read somewhere the following: God the Almighty said, "All that is too complex is unnecessary, and it is simple that is needed" ...
I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.
Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer … I always wanted to construct agriculture machinery.
I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists.
You see, maybe all these feelings come about because one side wants to liberate itself with arms. But in my opinion, it is the good that prevails.
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