The AO-46 compact assault rifle, or, to be more exact, an experimental Personal Defense Weapon, was created by Petr Tkachev, a prolific engineer and designer of many advanced experimental small arms. Work on the AO-46 was carried between 1969 and 1971.

The experimental AO-46 compact assault rifle / PDW

The AO-49 was designed at the TSNIITOCHMASH (Central Scientific and Research Institute of Precision Machine manufacturing), located in the city of Klimovsk, not far from Moscow. The main intent of this work was to develop a most compact, yet sufficiently efficient and lethal Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) for tank, APC and artillery crews, mortar men, radio operators, ATGM operators etc etc, and thus to replace either 7.62mm Kalashnikov AKMS assault rifles or 9mm Makarov PM pistols. In accordance with other ongoing R&D work, the AO-46 was designed around the then-experimental 5.6x39mm MZhV-13 cartridge that later evolved into the now-famous 5.45x39mm M74 standard issue cartridge.

The experimental AO-46 compact assault rifle / PDW

It was an unusual weapon with gas-operated action and magazine that was used as a pistol grip. To provide a more comfortable hold, Tkachov designed a proprietary magazine, where ammunition was canted “nose up” to reduce the length (front to back) of the magazine/grip body. Only few AO-46 assault rifles were made for tests, with no obvious intent to prepare it for official adoption. However, this early effort later evolved into the “Modern” research and development program, which commenced in 1973 and culminated in 1979 with adoption of the Kalashnikov AKS-74U compact assault rifle.

Author of this site with an AO-46 PDW / compact assault rifle at Army-2020 exhibition

AO-46 PDW / compact assault rifle uses gas-operated action with rotary bolt locking. The gas chamber is connected to a large cylindrical cup, located around the muzzle part of the barrel. The barrel has several small gas ports and the overall design of the muzzle cup device helps to decrease muzzle blast. Ammunition is fed from a specially designed magazine, made of stamped steel, with reduced front-to-back depth, by using tilted follower and storing cartridges canted nose-up. The safety/fire selector is located to the right of the trigger. The magazine catch is located on the right side of the receiver, above the magazine housing. Top-folding shoulder stock is made from stamped steel. Iron sights feature L-shaped flip-up rear sight.

AO-46 experimental assault rifle / PDW, basic specifications

Ammunition: 5.45x39mm
Overall length: 650 mm (450 mm with stock folded)
Barrel length: n/a
Weight, with empty magazine: 1.8 kg
Magazine capacity: 20 rounds
Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute