Russian army stops buying Kalashnikov rifles

[MothBalls]

End of an era? I didn't see if it said they quit making them, or if Russia just quit buying them.

(CNN) -- The Russian army has ceased ordering the famed Kalashnikov rifle for its arsenal and is waiting on a newer model its manufacturer is developing.

The inventor of the weapon, Mikhail Kalashnikov, 91, has reportedly been deliberately kept uninformed about the decision.

In 2009, Kalashnikov told a CNN crew on an excursion to the Izhmash arms assembly plant in the Russian city of Izhevsk that two main qualities describe his machine gun: simplicity and reliability.

"It is a thousand times harder to make simple things than complicated ones," he said.

You would think they would have a reliable replacement before they stopped buying them. In the article it said they are waiting on development for a replacement.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/29/world/...a-kalashnikov/