The NSV (Russian НСВ Никитина-Соколова-Волкова), also known as the «Utyos» (Project: ''Lonely Cliff''), is a
12.7mm caliber heavy machine gun
A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
of
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
origin, named after the designers, G. I. Nikitin (Г. И. Никитин), Y. S. Sokolov (Ю. М. Соколов) and V. I. Volkov (В. И. Волков). It was designed to replace the
DShK
The DShK 1938 (Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped but ...
machine gun and was adopted by the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
in 1971. It is no longer being produced in Russia; the
manufacturing license for the NSV ended up in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbek ...
after the
break-up of the Soviet Union. The NSV has been manufactured in Bulgaria, India, Poland and Yugoslavia under license.
The NSV weighs , has a rate of fire of 700–800 rounds per minute, and an effective range from to against airborne and ground targets, respectively. A loaded ammunition belt with 50 rounds weighs .
The NSVT version is used on the
T-72
The T-72 is a family of Soviet/ Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks h ...
,
T-64
The T-64 is a Soviet Union, Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank di ...
and
T-80
The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72. The chief designer of the T-80 was ...
tanks.
The new
Kord machine gun
The Kord-12.7 mm heavy machine gun is a Russian design that entered service in 1998 replacing the older NSV machine gun. Externally the weapon resembles the NSV; however, the internal mechanism has been extensively reworked, changing from a h ...
has replaced worn-out NSVs in some countries.
History
The
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
began looking for a new heavy machine gun to replace its older
SGM and
DShK
The DShK 1938 (Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped but ...
machine guns in the early 1950s. The Soviet Army liked the idea behind the German
MG 42
The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enter ...
; a versatile weapon used on a variety of mounts to perform many different roles. Two Soviet weapon designers were asked to design one weapon each utilizing the same principle.
Testing approved
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov ( rus, Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, p=kɐˈlaʂnʲɪkəf; 10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, military engineer, writer, ...
's solution; it was found to be more reliable and cheaper to manufacture than the design of Grigory Nikitin and Yuri Sokolov. Kalashnikov's machine gun became the new standard machine gun, and was named
PK.
Nikitin's and Sokolov's design was however not forgotten. It was developed into the heavy NSV machine gun about 10 years later and selected in 1969 as the successor to the
DShK/DShKM machine gun. It was accepted in service by the Soviet Army in 1971. The machine gun was also license-manufactured in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, India,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
and Poland. The Yugoslavian version of the NSVT is called the
M87.
Production of the NSV has ended in Russia, and it is currently being replaced by the
Kord heavy machine gun. The
Russian Army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...
needed a more accurate heavy machine gun, and it has also been increasingly difficult to get hold of spare parts. NSV production was located in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
and in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbek ...
and was disrupted by the end of the Soviet Union.
Use in Finland
The NSV is called 12,7 Itkk 96 or ''12,7 ilmatorjuntakonekivääri 96'' (12,7 anti-aircraft machine gun 96) in Finland. It is often used as a vehicle-mounted machine gun, and can be seen on the
Pasi armoured personnel carrier, the
Nasu transport vehicle and the
Leopard 2
The Leopard 2 is a 3rd generation main battle tank originally developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s for the West German army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West G ...
R tank.
Due to its high rate of fire, the NSV is intended to be used as a close-range anti-aircraft weapon against
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribute ...
s,
UAVs
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
and
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
. In dismounted ground combat it is placed on a special mount.
The
Finnish Navy
The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for ...
also uses the NSV in the anti-aircraft role, where it complements other unguided anti-aircraft weapons like the
23 ITK 95,
Bofors 40 Mk3 or
Bofors 57 Mk2 and Mk3.
Variants
* NSVS-12.7 (Russian > ''Nikitina-Sokolova-Volkova Stankovy'' 12.7 = "NSV-designed mounted 12.7mm machinegun"): Used on tripod mount.
* NSVT-12.7 (Russian > ''Nikitina-Sokolova-Volkova Tankovy'' 12.7 = "NSV-designed coaxial 12.7mm machinegun"): Used on T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks.
* 12.7 Itkk 96: Finnish designation. Guns acquired from Soviet Union, Russia and Germany (Ex-
Nationale Volksarmee
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
).
* M87 NSVT: Serbian license built version by
Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of fire ...
. The M87 has seen use with the armies of the former
Yugoslav
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918– ...
states.
* NSW: Polish version, license built NSV.
* WKM-B: Polish version adapted for
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
-standard
.50 BMG ammunition.
* KT-12.7: Ukrainian version.
* MG-U: Bulgarian version
Users
* : Produced by Arsenal
*
*
*
*
[''Jane's Armour and Artillery'', Volume 23, p. 450]
*
* : Manufactured NSVT at
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli of the
Ordnance Factories Board.
*
*
* : Locally produced by
Western Kazakhstan Machine-Building Company (ZKMK)
* : Mounted and used on M-84 tanks
*
* :Used by
UNGERIN
* : Used by
Namibian Marine Corps
*
* : Manufactured at
ZM Tarnów as NSW. Poland also developed their own machine gun based on NSV and chambered to
.50 BMG NATO round, known as WKM-B.
*
* : Manufactured at
Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of fire ...
. Copies were produced as the
M02 Coyote
*
* : Mounted and used on
T-80
The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72. The chief designer of the T-80 was ...
U tanks.
*
[NSV-12,7 'Utes'](_blank)
world.guns.ru
*
*
* : Produced locally by
Z111 Factory
The Z111 Factory ( vi, Nhà máy Z111), formally registered as the 11 Precise Mechanical One Member Liability Company () is a state-owned small arms factory located in Thanh Hóa, Thanh Hoá, Vietnam.
The Z111 Factory was built in 1957, and was o ...
.
* : Produced locally by Zastava Arms.
See also
*
List of firearms
This is an extensive list of small arms—including pistols, revolvers, submachine guns, shotguns, battle rifles, assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, personal defense weapons, carbines, designated marksman rifles, flamethrowers, multi ...
*
List of Russian weaponry
The following is a list of modern Russian small arms and light weapons which were in service in 2016:
Handguns
Revolvers
Pistols
Special purpose
Submachine guns
Special purpose
Shotguns
Rifles
Bolt-action
Semi-a ...
References
*
{{Reflist, 2
12.7×108 mm machine guns
.50 BMG machine guns
Machine guns of the Soviet Union
Heavy machine guns of Russia
TsKIB SOO products
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1971