WI: Kalashnikov dies in the battle of Bryansk.

We all know (well I know) the story of how Kalashnikov's tank was disabled and he had to make his way to a field hospital, and so witnessed the urban combat that inspired the development of the AK-47.

So my What If is: What if a bullet had gone three or four feet in another direction or an artillery shell landed a few hundred yards closer and slew the future "Hero of Socialist Labour"?

Kalashnikov's weapon has undisputably played a decisive role in world history, so what if it was never created?
 

wormyguy

Banned
Third world conflicts become a lot less bloody (and frequent, rebel groups find it harder to arm themselves). The switch to assault rifles is much slower, probably taking the lessons of Vietnam and Afghanistan before they are standardized across NATO and Warsaw Pact forces.
 

Markus

Banned
So my What If is: What if a bullet had gone three or four feet in another direction or an artillery shell landed a few hundred yards closer and slew the future "Hero of Socialist Labour"?

Kalashnikov's weapon has undisputably played a decisive role in world history, so what if it was never created?

No difference! Some other soviet designer will design a similar weapon. In fact the earlier German Stug44 was having all the key features of the AK: semi and full auto fire, shortened cartrides, largely made of stamped sheet metal.

The assault rifle was an innovation waiting to happen regardless what happens to one man.
 
No difference! Some other soviet designer will design a similar weapon. In fact the earlier German Stug44 was having all the key features of the AK: semi and full auto fire, shortened cartrides, largely made of stamped sheet metal.

The assault rifle was an innovation waiting to happen regardless what happens to one man.

Agreed. It will be an AK-47 in all but name. Maybe it will be less or more simple, maybe it will be heavier or lighter - but the fact is that the assault rifle as an idea will not be affected, and something like the AK-47 will enter service in the Soviet Army around the same time.
 
The assault rifle was a stipulated requirement from the Red Army, Kalashnikov was only one of several designers in competition. I once saw a photo of the final six, they all look generally similar. Same 30 round banana magazine and same overall shape. Kalashnikov's design was chosen because it was the best overall, but that doesn't mean the others weren't competitive. In fact one of the competing designs was by Sudev the designer of the PPS43 submachine gun, his design lost because he suddenly died in his mid-thirties before the competition was complete.

Several years later another design emerged that was based on the roller delay principle and showed a lot of promise, but the AK was already established by then.
 
The assault rifle was a stipulated requirement from the Red Army, Kalashnikov was only one of several designers in competition. I once saw a photo of the final six, they all look generally similar. Same 30 round banana magazine and same overall shape. Kalashnikov's design was chosen because it was the best overall, but that doesn't mean the others weren't competitive. In fact one of the competing designs was by Sudev the designer of the PPS43 submachine gun, his design lost because he suddenly died in his mid-thirties before the competition was complete.

Several years later another design emerged that was based on the roller delay principle and showed a lot of promise, but the AK was already established by then.

There's photos of four of the competitors here: http://world.guns.ru/assault/as01-e.htm

The design based on the delayed blowback principle(not roller - this is the principle used on the H&K G3 rifle) is the Korobov TKB-517, which also has a page on the above-mentioned site.
 
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