MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia and Russian have signed a deal allowing the production of the iconic Kalashnikov assault rifle in the Kingdom.
The agreement was reached as Saudi Arabia´s King Salman began his first official trip to Russia.
According to Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport the deal allows “production of Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles and cartridges for various purposes.
AK-103 is an offshoot of the iconic AK-47 rifle, which was designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov back in 1947.
The AK-47 has been the standard issue assault rifle of the Soviet and then Russian Army since 1949.
Its durability, low production cost, availability and ease of use promoted the AK-47 to becoming the most circulated weapon in the world.
The militaries of more than 100 nations are armed with Kalashnikovs, with an estimated 100 million working AK-47s currently in circulation.
