Tuesday, July 7 2020 15:25

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the AK-103 assault rifle  manufacturing plant. This was announced by Pashinyan himself on his  Facebook page.

Third-generation optical sights and domestic-made thermal imagers  were demosntrated to the PM, which after appropriate tests will be  transferred to the arsenal of the Armenian army within a year.

The head of the enterprise, Igor Gordienko, demonstrated to the Prime  Minister of a model of the industrial zone of the Neutron Scientific  and Production Association located in the city of Abovyan, Kotayk  region of the Republic of Armenia. As he said, the zone consists of  four blocks: cartridge production in an area of about 14 thousand  square meters with production volumes of up to 150 million rounds per  year; overhaul of automotive vehicles with an equity participation of  Remdiesel JSC and KAMAZ concern with a volume of approximately 120  units per year; repair of armored vehicles also with the  participation of the joint-stock company Remdiesel and KAMAZ concern  with a volume of 100 units per year.

According to the head of the enterprise, at the second and third  stages it is planned to assemble weapons with a volume of 50 thousand  pieces per year. The representative of the plant informed that all  the equipment for the plant has already been ordered and is at the  production stage, and is purchased from enterprises with which the  company works on an ongoing basis. It was also reported that it is  planned to open at least 1200 jobs at the plant, and this at the  first stage alone with the involvement of narrow specialists, and the  management team will be staffed by officers with extensive experience  in the field of production and technology. According to him, two  buildings of the Neutron are at the completion stage, issues related  to the territories are being resolved and by the end of the year, all  work will be completed.

Then the Prime Minister was told about the mechanical components of  the Osa-AKM air defense system, the preparation of training models  for organizing the training of military personnel on them. Then,  Pashinyan already familiarized himself with the assembled AK-103.

As ArmInfo previously reported, a contract for the supply of  components for organizing the phased assembly of AK-103 assault  rifles in Armenia was concluded on May 15, 2020on the basis of the  relevant decision of the Federal Service for the Economy of Russia.  According to the plan, the production of Kalashnikov AK-103 assault  rifles in Armenia started in the first decade of this year. The  production license is for 10 years.

As previously reported by the head of the enterprise Igor Gordienko,  the work of the plant will be organized in two stages. "At the  initial stage, the parts will be delivered from Russia. The second  stage involves the production of simple parts needed for on-site  assembly, again using Russian technologies," Gordienko said.  Automatic AK-103 are weapons of the army and special units.