KPV

The KPV (Krupnokaliberny pulemyot Vladimirova, "Vladimirov's large-calibre machine gun") was developed by S. V. Vladimirov from 1944 and adopted in 1949, chambered for the 14.5x114mm round originally designed for Soviet wartime anti-tank rifles. The intent was to combine the sustained rate of fire of a heavy machine gun with the armour penetration of an anti-tank rifle, giving infantry a weapon effective against light armour, field fortifications and low-flying aircraft alike. The infantry version proved too large and heavy for its role and was withdrawn from production in the 1960s, but the gun performed so well as an anti-aircraft weapon and as vehicle armament that it has remained in production ever since at the Degtyarev Plant.

The KPV is air-cooled and operates by short recoil with gas assistance and a rotating bolt. It has a chrome-lined bore and a quick-change barrel released by a prominent latch at the front of the receiver and withdrawn by its own carrying handle. Feed is from a 40-round metallic belt that can be fitted from either side, and cyclic rate is about 600 rounds per minute at a muzzle velocity of 1,005 m/s. Muzzle energy reaches roughly 31 kJ, against about 19 kJ for the 12.7mm M2HB and 28 kJ for the 20mm ShVAK aircraft cannon, making it one of the most powerful machine guns ever fielded by Soviet or Russian forces. The B-32 armour-piercing incendiary round, with a tungsten-carbide core, defeats 32 mm of rolled homogeneous armour at 500 m. Effective range is 3,000 m against ground targets and 2,000 m against aircraft.

Versions and mountings include:

• The KPVT, the armoured-vehicle model with a shorter receiver, heavier barrel jacket and 50-round belt, serving as the main armament of the BTR-60PB, BTR-70 and BTR-80 and of the BRDM-2 scout car

• The ZPU series of towed anti-aircraft mounts: ZPU-1 single, ZPU-2 twin and ZPU-4 quadruple

• The ZGU-1, a single-barrel pack mount for mountain troops

• Naval mountings, including the twin 2M-5, 2M-6 and 2M-7 and the single 14.5 mm MTPU pedestal mount

The ZPU family alone entered service with more than fifty countries. The KPV has been used in the Korean War, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Western Sahara War, Angola, the South African Border War, the Soviet-Afghan War, the Libyan-Chadian conflict, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, both Chechen wars, the Russo-Georgian War, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Yemen and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Ammunition is produced in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Poland and Romania, and the Emirati IGG-RWS14 remote weapon station is built around the gun.