Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Thanks for those figures and estimates, VW. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
I find it odd that Warsaw Pact nations didn't follow the USSR's lead and adopt a 5.45x39mm version of RPK (i.e. the RPK-74). It's not like the USSR gave its client states much of a choice. From what I can find online, only Bulgaria and Romania produced 5.45x39mm RPKs, and production in the latter country didn't begin until 1993, after the Cold War ended (IRL). It seems even odder since most of the WP nations that produced copies of the AK-74 also produced carbine versions (i.e. the AKSU-74). Why not change the entire panoply? It seems like that would have been a more efficient, cost-effective approach, and, as VW pointed out, would have simplified logistics as well.
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I think having the Category A and B divisions with the AK 74 is realistic with Category C and Mobilization only with the AKM makes sense-simple in game terms means you can focus on other things.
Inventories of the AK-74 would probably be sufficient along with spare parts until the nuclear exchange. Afterward, losses to the attacks, battlefield losses, (armorers can only repair so many rifles by parting out unserviceable ones) and other losses would dwindle the numbers considerably in my view. The ubiquitous AKM would reappear in large numbers as would the SKS.
To play Devil's Advocate on the other hand, the much reduced personnel numbers by 2000 might allow for most, if not all, Soviet divisions and many NSWP formations still intact to be equipped with the AK-74. Just a thought.
The NVA and the thinly-veiled Soviet hatred of the DDR would encourage the Politburo not to allow the NVA to build up huge inventories of spare small arms. Always troublesome Romania would not inspire confidence from the Politburo either. Bulgaria, a pliant and loyal client state, was always relegated to military penury by the Soviets. These are all factors a referee could take into account with parceling out the AK-74-AKM levels.