Nikolay Mikhailovich Afanasyev (russian: Николай Михайлович Афанасьев; 14 November 1916 – 15 March 2009), also known as Nicolai Michaelovich Afanasiev, was a Russian

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

designer.Памяти Николая Михайловича Афанасьева
, ''КАЛАШНИКОВ. ОРУЖИЕ, БОЕПРИПАСЫ, СНАРЯЖЕНИЕ'' 2009/4, p. 24

Biography

Nicolai Michaelovitch Afanasiev was born in Russia on 14 November 1916 in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1938 he graduated from a

Tekhnikum A tekhnikum (russian: техникум) is a type of vocational school in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, as well as in modern Russia, Ukraine and some other post-Soviet states. The term was borrowed from 19th-century German education, where ...

of the Mechanization of Agriculture. In 1939 he was drafted to serve in a tank corps in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, where he started to work on machine gun design. After the Nazi invasion of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, he volunteered for front-line service. He was allowed to be a fighter from September 1941 until the fall of 1942, when he was recalled to work on armaments, initially on improving fuses for 82- and 120-mm mortars. After 1948 Afanasiev worked at the

KBP Instrument Design Bureau JSC ''Konstruktorskoe Buro Priborostroeniya'' (KBP) (russian: АО «Конструкторское бюро приборостроения», AO konstruktórskoje bjuró priborostrojénija Joint-Stock Company - Instrument Design Bureau) is one ...

. He died on 15 March 2009.

Designs

LAD machine gun The LAD machine gun (Russian: пулемет ЛАД) is a Soviet prototype light machine gun. Although belt-fed and having a built-in bipod, it is chambered for the Tokarev pistol cartridge. The LAD machine gun was developed between 1942 and 1943 ...

– 1942 *

Afanasev A-12.7 The Afanasev A-12.7 is a heavy machine gun developed by Nikolay M. Afanasev in 1949 and adopted for service in 1953. This gun was supposed to have a considerably higher rate of fire than its predecessor, the Berezin UB aircraft machine gun. Due ...

– 1950 *

Afanasev Makarov AM-23 The Afanasev Makarov AM-23 is a Soviet designed aircraft autocannon that has been used in a number of aircraft in the Soviet Air Force. Its GRAU index was 9-A-036. It was often used in place of the earlier and slower-firing Nudelman-Rikhter NR-2 ...

– 1953 * a

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, ...

design with which he participated in the

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduced ...

contest - 1955 * 2A-14 23 mm autocannon, used in the

ZU-23 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13. Developm ...

– 1960 (with P.G. Yakushev) * 2A-7 23 mm autocannon, used in the

ZSU-23-4 The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system (SPAAG). Etymology The acronym "ZSU" stands for ''Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (russian: Зенитная Самоходная Ус� ...

– 1960 (with P.G. Yakushev) * TKB-011 * TKB-0136, competed in

Project Abakan Project Abakan was a Soviet/Russian advanced assault rifle program in rival to the US Advanced Combat Rifle that took place between 1980 and 1994. History The 1960s ushered a new generation of assault rifles with the introduction of smaller cal ...

OTs-02 Kiparis The OTS-02 Kiparis (''ОЦ-02 Кипарис'', Russian for "cypress") submachine gun was designed by the TsKIB SOO design bureau of Tula during the early 1970s but was not introduced into service until 1991. It is primarily intended for internal ...

Honours and awards

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1986) – For achievements in the design of aircraft gun armament * Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(1963, 1986) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

(1977) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 2nd class (1963) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1967) * Mosin Prize *

Honoured Inventor of the RSFSR The Honorary Title "Honoured Inventor of the RSFSR" (russian: Заслуженный изобретатель РСФСР) was the highest award for inventors of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of the USSR. It got established on Apr ...

(1968)

References

External links

* http://www.bratishka.ru/archiv/2007/8/2007_8_17.php
Photo of Afanasyev's small arms designs at Tula museum

Николай Михайлович Афанасьев
page at KBP __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Afanasyev, Nikolay Mikhaylovich 1916 births 2009 deaths Firearm designers Heroes of Socialist Labour Engineers from Saint Petersburg Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the USSR State Prize Soviet inventors Soviet engineers Soviet military personnel of World War II