RPD machine gun
| RPD | |
|---|---|
RPD
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| Type | |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1945–present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars |
1948 Arab–Israeli War Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Suez Crisis Sino-Indian War Cambodian Civil War Six-Day War Indonesian invasion of East Timor Yom Kippur War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War South African Border War Soviet War in Afghanistan Iran–Iraq War 1982 Lebanon War Gulf War Yugoslav Wars Rwandan Civil War War in Afghanistan Iraq War Thai–Laotian Border War Cambodian–Thai border stand-off Libyan Civil War Syrian civil war Yemeni Civil War (2015-present) Saudi-led intervention in Yemen (2015-present), other various conflicts in Africa and Asia |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Vasily Degtyaryov |
| Designed | 1943–44 |
| Produced | 1944–1960s |
| Variants | RPDM, Type 56, Type 56-1, Type 62 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 7.4 kg (16.31 lb) when empty |
| Length | 1,037 mm (40.8 in) |
| Barrel length | 520 mm (20.5 in) |
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| Cartridge | 7.62×39mm |
| Action | Gas-operated |
| Rate of fire | 650–750 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 735 m/s (2,411 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 100–1,000 m sight adjustments |
| Feed system | Non-disintegrating 100-round segmented belt stored in a drum container |
| Sights | Open-type sights with rear sliding notch and semi-hooded front post, 596.6 mm (23.5 in) sight radius |
The RPD (Russian: ручной пулемёт Дегтярёва Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, English: Degtyaryov hand-held machine gun) is a 7.62mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union by Vasily Degtyaryov for the intermediate 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge. It was created as a replacement for the DP machine gun chambered for the 7.62×54mmR round. It is a precursor of most squad automatic weapons. It was succeeded in Soviet service by the RPK.
Work on the weapon commenced in 1943. Three prominent Soviet engineers were asked to submit their own designs: Vasily Degtyaryov, Sergei Simonov and Alexei Sudayev. Among the completed prototypes prepared for evaluation, the Degtyaryov design proved superior and was accepted into service with the Soviet armed forces as the 7.62 mm Ручной Пулемёт Дегтярёва, PПД (RPD, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova or "Degtyaryov light machine gun") model 1944. Although the RPD was ready for mass production during the final stages of World War II, large scale delivery of the weapon did not begin until 1953. During the Vietnam War, the RPD served the Vietcong as their standard light machine gun.
After the introduction of the Kalashnikov-pattern support weapons, such as the RPK and PK machine guns in the 1960s, the RPD was withdrawn from most first-tier units of the former Warsaw Pact. However, the RPD remains in active service in many African and Asian nations. Apart from the former Soviet Union, the weapon was manufactured in China (as the Type 56 LMG), Egypt, North Korea (Type 62) and, since 1956, Poland.
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