AK-47 maker files bankruptcy

The court's hearing into the petition will take place on October 7, they quoted the court as saying.

The petition was brought by a company in the regional capital of Izhevsk called Gremikha. But its link to the weapons maker was not made clear by the arbitration court.

Izhmash makes the famed Kalishnikov, the world's best known assault rifle, which was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the 1940s under the Soviet Union and is used by armies and irregular forces throughout the world.

Gazeta said that despite its fame the company, which is 57 percent owned by state firm Russian Technologies, has not been spared the effects of the economic crisis amid plummeting orders for defence goods.

According to the paper, it has built up 400 million rubles (US$13 million) of overdue debts.

The AK-47 (or Kalashnikov) is a selective fire, gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the 1940s. Six decades later, the AK-47 and its variants and derivatives remain in service throughout the world. It has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with regular armed forces as well as irregular, revolutionary and terrorist organizations worldwide.

The designation AK-47 stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova 47 -- Kalashnikov automatic rifle, model of 1947.

Design work on the AK began in 1944. In 1946 a version of the rifle, the AK-46, was presented for official military trials, and a year later the fixed stock version was introduced into service with select units of the Red Army. The AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1949. An early development of the design was the AKS-47, which differed in being equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock.

The AK-47 was one of the first true assault rifles and, due to its durability, low production cost and ease of use, the weapon and its numerous variants remain the most widely used assault rifles in the world -- so much so that more AK-type rifles have been produced than all other assault rifles combined. It was also used by the majority of the member states of the former Warsaw Pact. It was also used as a basis for the development of many other types of individual and crew-served firearms.

The AK-47, is reported to be responsible for a quarter of a million deaths -- every year; nearly 700,000 people have been killed by this small arm worldwide.

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