page_title: AK-47
section_title: Conflicts
hierarchical_section_title: AK-47 / Conflicts
caption_attribution_description: English: YPJ fighters shake hands with one another
context_page_description: The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova, is a gas-operated, 7.62×39mm assault rifle, developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov rifle family. 47 refers to the year it was finished.
  Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. In 1946, the AK-47 was presented for official military trials, and in 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS, which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In early 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.
  Even after seven decades, the model and its variants remain the most popular and widely used rifles in the world because of its reliability under harsh conditions, low production costs compared to contemporary Western weapons, availability in virtually every geographic region, and ease of use.
context_section_description: The AK-47 has been used in the following conflicts:
caption: Kurdish YPJ fighters in Syria, 2014
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