Assault Rifle
Specifications
- Type
- Selective-Fire Rifle
- Origin
- Germany / Soviet Union
- Era
- 1940s – present
- Notable Users
- Virtually every modern military force
- Epoch
- Modern Age
History
The assault rifle is a selective-fire weapon chambered in an intermediate cartridge, capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. The German StG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44) of 1944 established the concept. The Soviet AK-47 (1947), designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, became the most produced firearm in history — over 100 million manufactured. The American M16/M4 family, firing the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge, equips US and allied forces. The assault rifle combines the range of a rifle with the sustained fire capability of a submachine gun in a single, versatile platform.
Significance
The assault rifle is the defining weapon of modern warfare. The AK-47 alone has armed more combatants than any other weapon in history. Its intermediate cartridge concept — more powerful than a pistol round, lighter than a full rifle round — was the key insight that made the modern infantry soldier possible.
More from the Modern Age
12 weapons
54 Weapons. Five Epochs. One Poster.
The Assault Rifle is one of 13 weapons from the Modern Age featured on the poster.
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