Comrade Kappa

The end of an era:

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the 94-year-old inventor of the world’s most [recognized] firearm … died Monday in a Russian hospital, announced Viktor Chulkov, a spokesman for the Udmurtia republic, Kalashnikov’s home region.

“We received sad news today: legendary small-arms inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov died at the age of 94 after a prolonged illness.”  Kalashikov had been recently admitted to an intensive care unit “in serious but stable condition” at a hospital in Udmurtia’s regional capital, Izhevsk.

This was the man whose life’s work helped make Nelson Mandela the legend he ultimately became.  Reflect deeply upon this.

 

Kalash of Titans

Somehow, Lunghu has become an uncompensated, unacknowledged strategic brand advisor to the Russian Federation.  Emphasis is on the uncompensated aspect of this dubious honor, which turns out to be a good thing, because who wants the hassle of having to register with the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice as an agent of a foreign principal?

How did this happen? The slippery slope began with a gentle gradient, when Lunghu made some offhand, less-than-flattering comments about Mosfilm’s back-catalog that drove ’em straight into the arms of Google’s YouTube.   Then, a bit later, he pointed out that (despite Rosneft, Gazprom, Rusal and the rest) Russia really only has two 21st century global brands:  Comrade Bear and the AK-47 Kalashnikov.

Someone has been listening:

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called on Saturday for a merger of two of Russia’s leading small-arms makers, Izhmash and Izhmekh, under the Kalashnikov brand.
“We need to set up a new-old brand, named ‘Kalashnikov.’  Izhmekh and Izhmash, with all due respect, are not a brand.  Kalashnikov –that’s a brand,” Rogozin said.

Backstory

This didn’t exactly come out of the blue.   Rogozin has had prior run-ins with Izhmash management, and he probably hasn’t seen many recent improvements to their past performance:  Izmash’s foray into production of paintball guns hasn’t been too profitable.  Even worse, there’s been a recent optics issue:

Long-serving employees at Russian weapons manufacturer Izhmash, including the legendary Mikhail Kalashnikov, sent a letter to the Kremlin [in October] complaining about falling production and low wages.  Employees claim that bad management has led to the loss of several export contracts, [which] prompted wage cuts, forcing skilled personnel to leave in droves.
“Irreversible changes may take place at the enterprise, leading to the disappearance of brands such as Kalashnikov, Dragunov and Nikonov,” the letter said.

 

Given this context, it’s not surprising that Comrade General Mikhail K. is completely onboard with Dimi Rozgozin’s merger proposal:

Mikhail Kalashnikov, who turned 93 on Saturday, personally authorized the use of his name for the [combined Izhmekh/Izhmash enterprise], Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday.
Izhmash has manufactured Kalashnikovs since the rifle first went into mass production in 1949, while Izhmekh is best known for producing Makarov and Yarygin handguns.

As long as the Russian Federation is accepting free and unsolicited advice, Lunghu suggests that the merger deal includes a generous personal-services contract for Comrade General Mikhail and his family.  A gesture of good will can be worth more than gold.

 

200 Minus 188

If you’re the manager of a state-owned industrial enterprise, what do you do when the Deputy Prime Minister visits on an Udmurtia inspection tour to chastize you for shoddy inventory control?  You tell him that sales are up 57% and let him play with some new toys, that’s what.

It’s all part of the post-soviet playbook at Izhmash, where Dimi Rogozin got hands-on with the RF’s next-gen AK-12 (fka AK-200) standard-issue infantry rifle and got some face-time with international celebrity Mikhail Kalashnikov.  Turning lemons into lemonade, Russian-style.

Izhmash has unveiled a prototype of its new Kalashnikov assault rifle with improved ergonomics and tactical flexibility.  The new rifle, dubbed AK-12, is a basic platform for the development of nearly 20 different modifications of the weapon … for cartridges varying from 5.45 x 39mm to 7.62 x 51mm NATO.  The AK-12 has a folding stock and a height-adjustable heelpiece. The weapon can be used by both left-handed and right-handed people, and can be easily handled with one hand.

Actually, this looks like the older model AK-74 Kalashnikov

Comrade General K. is in his early 90s, but his name is a global brand whose renown surpasses even that of Comrade Bear himself.  That takes some doing!

Lunghu likes the fact that Izhmash and Comrade Kalashnikov kept the best characteristics of the classic weapon while grafting on a new scion of good-ol’ Yankee ingenuity:  the Picatinny rail accessory system.  These features –together with price performance–  may help Izhmash achieve greater penetration in African and Asian markets where local military command structures are currently susceptible to U.S. influence.  A few judiciously-distributed “commission payments” wouldn’t hurt either.