[Faline]

The inventor of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has died aged 94, Russian officials say.



The automatic rifle he designed became one of the world's most familiar and widely used weapons.

Its comparative simplicity made it cheap to manufacture, as well as reliable and easy to maintain.

Although honoured by the state, Kalashnikov made little money from his gun. He once said he would have been better off designing a lawn mower.

Kalashnikov was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding in November.

He died on Monday in Izhevsk, the city where he lived 600 miles east of Moscow, an official there said.

Matching the Germans
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 in western Siberia, one of 18 children.

In 1938, he was called up by the Red Army and his design skills were used to improve the effectiveness of weapons and equipment used by Soviet tank regiments.

He designed the machine gun after being asked by a fellow soldier why the Russians could not come up with a gun that would match the ones used by the Germans.

Work on the AK47 was completed in 1947, and two years later the gun was adopted by the Soviet army.

Kalashnikov continued working into his late 80s as chief designer at the Izhevsk firm that first built the AK-47.

He received many state honours, including the Order of Lenin and the Hero of Socialist Labour.

Kalashnikov refused to accept responsibility for the many people killed by his weapon, blaming the policies of other countries that acquired it.

However, pride in his invention was tempered with sadness at its use by criminals and child soldiers.

"It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon," Kalashnikov said in 2008.

[durt]

R.I.P. M.K.

[rapeWhistle]

Kalashnikov once aspired to design farm equipment. But even though his most famous invention — the AK-47 assault rifle — sowed havoc instead of crops, he often said he felt personally untroubled by his contribution to bloodshed.

"I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence," he said in 2007.

[PTSD Is My Life]

He struggled with the monster he created. That was I believe what was behind his "I'd have been better off designing a lawnmower" remark.

Unlike Alfred Nobel, who once he realised the nightmare he had released upon the world with his invention (dynamite) and was stunned by the worlds negative reaction to an incorrect announcement in the papers that he had died and turned his vast wealth into doing good (the Nobel Peace Prize etc). He never made any great amounts of money from his invention, he was given "priveledges" by the powers that be with a larger accomodation and car etc but he could do nothing to waylay his guilt over the suffering his invention(s) the AK was but one of many had caused in the world.

Good night great man, you did good and loved your country what more can you ask of a man?

[Pyramid_Head]

My favorite assault rifle. RIP

[Kanda444]

Sad day....

[mrm1109]

Shared this with my husband. He's sad too

[Shadedwill]

He was a neat man, if you've ever seen the interviews. He gave one from his apartment when he got older, it was kind of a hovel.. Too bad the Soviets and later the Russians never cared much for one of their best and brightest.

[icheerthebull]

Micheal hodges has two very good books on the history of the AK47 for anyone interested

[invertigo]

"I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence," he said in 2007.

Too bad it's rarely the politicians themselves who suffer the consequences of such violence.