Venezuela to produce AK submachine guns under license

In July 2006 Rosoboronexport signed a license transfer contract with Venezuela to manufacture the Kalashnikov submachine guns in the country. The contract totaling over US$ 400 million covers the construction of a plant in Venezuela where AK-103 submachine guns will be manufactured under license and a plant to produce 7.62mm cartridges.

Earlier, in May 2005, the sides concluded a contract to deliver 100,000 AK-103 submachine guns to Venezuela. The first batch of weapons under the contract was already supplied to the customer, and the whole contract will be completed by the end of the current year.

The license production of AK-103s in Venezuela will be organized as follows. During the first three years, Izhevsk-based Izhmash concern will supply sets of components for assembly of the AK-103 weapons. It is planned to produce 3,000 AK-103s in the first year and to bring the annual output up to 25,000 items during five years.

Later, when the process is fully established, Venezuela will produce 25,000 AK submachine guns a year. Under the license, the maximum annual output is restricted by precisely this quantity. On the whole, the license provides no restrictions on overall output of the AK submachine guns.

According to some data, in July this year Venezuela signed another contract worth US$ 52 million for delivery of an additional 100,000 AK submachine guns to bridge a time gap between the arrival of the first batch of 100,000 AK weapons and the beginning of supply of the licensed AK-103s.