designer ak-101
A battle rifle is a military service rifle that fires a full - power rifle cartridge , such as 7 . 62 × 51mm NATO , 7 . 62 × 54mmR , 7 . 92x57mm ___MASK50___ , . 303 British , or . 30 - 06 Springfield . Compared to assault rifles and their intermediate cartridges , the higher - caliber rounds provide greater power and range , though they have greater weight and produce stronger recoil , making them less than ideal for fully automatic fire . The AK - 103 assault rifle is a derivative of the AK - 74M chambered for the 7 . 62 × 39mm M43 round , similar to the older AKM . The AK - 103 can be fitted with a variety of sights , including night vision and telescopic sights , plus a knife - bayonet or a grenade launcher . It uses plastic components where possible instead of wood or metal . France , officially the French Republic , is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other ___MASK48___ urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux . The 5 . 56 × 45mm NATO ( official NATO nomenclature 5 . 56 NATO ) is an intermediate cartridge developed in the United States and originally chambered in the M16 rifle . Under STANAG 4172 , it is a standard cartridge for NATO forces as well as many non - NATO countries . It is derived from , but is not identical to , the . 223 Remington cartridge . The AK - 101 is an assault rifle of the Kalashnikov series . The AK - 101 is designed for the world export market , using 5 . 56 × 45mm NATO cartridges , which is the standard of most NATO armies . The AK - 101 is marketed at those looking for a weapon that combines the logistical compatibility and familiarity of the 5 . 56 × 45mm NATO round with the reliability of a Kalashnikov . It is designed with modern and composite materials , including plastics that reduce weight and improve accuracy . Many of the improvements found in the AK - 101 are also present in the AK - 103 and the rest of the AK - 10x series of rifles . The AK - 101 is a selective fire weapon that can be fired in either semi - automatic or fully automatic mode . The disassembly procedure for the AK - 101 is identical to that of the AK - 74 . The AK - 101 has an attachment rail installed on the side of the receiver for mounting scopes and other optical sights , which will accept most types of Russian and European AK optics . The rifle accepts most synthetic and metal AK - 74 - style magazines with 30 - round capacity . The AK - 101 has a 415 mm ( 16 . 3 in ) barrel with an AK - 74 style muzzle brake attached to the barrel to control muzzle climb . The AK - 102 , AK - 104 and AK - 105 are the designations given to the more compact carbine variants of the AK - 10x rifle series , firing the 5 . 56 × 45mm NATO , 7 . 62 × 39mm M43 and 5 . 45 × 39mm M74 rifle rounds respectively . These carbines differ from the normal rifles of the series in that they have much shorter barrels , only 314 mm ( 12 . 4 in ) in length . These AK - 10x carbines , much like their rifle counterparts , were made primarily for export . A common misconception is that the AK - 101 has entered service as the main assault rifle of the Russian Federation , but this is not true ; the AK - 74M is still the main assault rifle with the AK - 105 being introduced alongside , both chambered for 5 . 45 × 39mm . The AKM firing 7 . 62 mm Soviet rounds is in limited service with selected units in the Russian army , and the AK - 103 is in service with some Russian civil police agencies and spec ops units . The advanced AN - 94 is entering limited service in the elite forces of the Russian military , some Russian police forces , and the Ministry of Internal Affairs . The AK - 101 is chambered in 5 . 56mm NATO and features a black glass - filled polyamide side folding stock . The side folding stock looks similar to a normal fixed stock , but folds and locks securely to the left side of the receiver . It has a cutout to compensate for the side rail . The AKM (" Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy " or " Kalashnikov modernized automatic rifle ") is a 7 . 62mm assault rifle designed by ___MASK72___ . It is a common modernized variant of the AK - 47 rifle developed in the 1940s . An intermediate cartridge is a rifle / carbine cartridge that is less powerful than typical full - power battle rifle cartridges , such as the . 303 British , 7 . 62 × 54mmR , 7 . 92 × 57mm ___MASK50___ or . 30 - 06 Springfield , but still has significantly longer effective range than pistol cartridges . As their recoil is significantly reduced compared to high power rifle cartridges , fully automatic rifles firing intermediate cartridges are relatively easy to control . However , even though less powerful than a traditional rifle cartridge , the ballistics are still sufficient for an effective range of , which are the maximum typical engagement ranges in modern combat . This allowed for the development of the assault rifle , a selective fire weapon that is more compact and lighter than rifles that fire full power cartridges . The first intermediate cartridge to see widespread service was the German 7 . 92 × 33mm Kurz used in the StG 44 . Other notable examples include the Soviet 7 . 62 × 39mm used in the AK - 47 and AKM series , and the American 5 . 56 × 45mm NATO cartridge first used in the M16 . An assault rifle is a selective - fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine . Assault rifles were first used during World War II . Though Western nations were slow to accept the assault rifle concept after World War II , by the end of the 20th century they had become the standard weapon in most of the world ' s armies , replacing semi - automatic rifles , battle rifles and sub - machine guns in most roles . Examples include the StG 44 , AK - 47 and the M16 rifle . The AK - 47 , or AK as it is officially known ( also known as the Kalashnikov ) is a selective - fire ( semi - automatic and automatic ), gas - operated 7 . 62 × 39 mm assault rifle , developed in the Soviet Union by ___MASK72___ . It is officially known in the Soviet documentation as " Avtomat Kalashnikova ". The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO '), also called the North Atlantic Alliance , is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949 . The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party . Three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear - weapon states : the United States , France and the United Kingdom . NATO ' s headquarters are located in Haren , Brussels , Belgium , where the Supreme Allied Commander also resides . Belgium is one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe , the newest of which , Albania and Croatia , joined in April 2009 . An additional 22 countries participate in NATO ' s Partnership for Peace program , with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes . The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70 % of the global total . Members ' defence spending is supposed to amount to 2 % of GDP .