German military rifles during the Cold War. Adopted and standardized in 1947, it was designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov and originally produced by Russian manufacturer Izhmash. Compared with most auto-loading rifles of World War II, the AK-47 is compact, of comparable range, moderate power, and capable of selective fire. It was one of the first true assault rifles and remains the most widely used, known as the "Best Automatic Assault Rifle". More AK-type rifles have been produced than of any other assault rifle type. East German AK copies served with the National People's Army throughout its existence. The MPi-K and MPi-KS were derived from
AK-12 all of these features. In January 2012, the Russian Deputy Defense Minister announced that the Russian Army would not be buying the AK-12, as they had millions of surplus AK-74 assault rifles and over concerns of the financial state of Izhmash. Despite this, the Russian Ministry of Defence began trials of the rifle on 2 November 2012. It was tested for its effectiveness when exposed to freezing cold, desert heat, humidity, dust and impacts. By 23 November 2012, trials were about 80 percent complete. During these initial tests, the AK-12 was found to have a "range of defects". The specific