AK Rifles Once Used By NATO's Northeastern Members

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]While many western nations and NATO members  seem to be moving towards AR-pattern weapons as standard service rifles, we have to remember that  there was much more diversity decades earlier.

[00:00:11]Indeed, when it comes to the Baltic nations  of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which were occupied by the Soviets up until the early 90s,  AK-pattern firearms were much more commonplace.

[00:00:23]So in this video, let’s take a look at the specific AK rifles used by  these specific countries!

[00:00:32]Today we’re going back to the early 1990s, a  time when the newly independent Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia faced  the enormous challenge of rebuilding their respective national armed forces after  nearly fifty years under Soviet rule.

[00:00:48]When independence was restored around 1991, there were no functioning national militaries  besides a handful of eager volunteers.

[00:00:57]No strict procurement systems had  been established, and little to no military equipment remained under their control.

[00:01:03]That’s because the departing Soviet forces  did not conduct official equipment transfers to the newly independent governments.  Instead, military bases were vacated, and anything of value, including weapons, were  removed and redeployed as Russian units withdrew.

[00:01:19]In many cases, those departing Russians  sabotaged equipment that couldn’t be taken.

[00:01:25]What remained for the Baltic states  was the difficult task of assembling their armed forces almost entirely from scratch.

[00:01:32]This massive task to build up  independent militaries was made even harder by the economic realities of the time.

[00:01:40]The Baltic economies were transitioning rapidly from Soviet central planning  to independent market systems.

[00:01:46]Defense budgets were extremely limited,  and political pressure from Moscow, including economic blockade, made  the situation even more difficult.

[00:01:56]Most western countries were cautious about  arms transfers to the newly independent governments, especially the United States.  The country was seeking mutually beneficial “detente” with Russia during election  season, particularly in the earliest years.

[00:02:01]At the same time, the Red Army was the only  experience troops of the freshly re-established independent militaries were familiar with in  terms of organization, doctrine and weapons.

[00:02:12]This combination of factors placed the  Baltic states in an unusual position.

[00:02:16]They needed weapons quickly but had  few suppliers willing to provide them, and not enough resources for large numbers.

[00:02:24]As a result, the earliest Baltic arsenals  became a mixture of Soviet-pattern rifles obtained through a variety of informal channels,  like under-the-table deals with departing Russian officers, and a small number of purchases from  friendlier ex-Warsaw pact nations that inherited some of the Soviet arsenals, or their own  production capability, like Poland and Romania.

[00:02:47]And so at the center of this patchwork  inventory was a plethora of Kalashnikov rifles.

[00:02:53]Originally designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov  in the wake of World War II, the weapons system became one of the most widely  produced firearm families in history.

[00:03:03]It quickly gained a reputation for low  maintenance requirements, simplistic design, and easy operation even by the most novice users.

[00:03:11]The basic operating principle of the Kalashnikov  rifle is a long-stroke gas piston system.

[00:03:17]When a round is fired, gas from  the barrel is diverted through a port near the front sight into  a gas tube above the barrel.

[00:03:24]This gas drives a piston connected to the  bolt carrier, forcing it rearward and the rotating bolt unlocks from the trunnion,  extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge before a recoil spring pushes the carrier  forward again, chambering the next round.

[00:03:39]The design is intentionally simple  and forgiving. Clearances inside the mechanism are relatively loose  compared to many Western rifles, allowing the weapon to continue functioning even  when the weapon has NOT been properly maintained!

[00:03:53]One of the most common variants encountered  in early Baltic militaries was the AKM.

[00:03:58]Introduced by the Soviet Union in 1959, the AKM  was a modernized version of the earlier AK design.

[00:04:06]It used a stamped steel receiver rather  than a milled one of its predecessor, making it lighter, cheaper, and easier  to manufacture in large numbers.

[00:04:15]Chambered in 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge, the AKM  offered effective firepower and moderate recoil, making it effective at typical  infantry engagement ranges.

[00:04:28]Most AKM rifles also featured a  distinctive slant-cut muzzle brake designed to counteract muzzle  climb during automatic fire.

[00:04:36]Closely related was the AKMS variant where  “S” stands for “Skladnoy” or “folding”, which traded the ergonomic fixed wooden  stock with a rather uncomfortable metal folding stock. This configuration was  intended primarily for airborne troops, armored vehicle crews, and units  needing a more compact weapon.

[00:04:56]Interestingly, some Chinese-production  rifles also appeared in Baltic inventories.

[00:05:01]The Type 56 assault rifle manufactured in  China by state owned factory Norinco. As a licensed (and later indigenous  derivative) of the Kalashnikov, it was widely exported during the 1990s  to whoever was willing to pay for it.

[00:05:16]Despite being largely based  on earlier Soviet AK designs, many external features were unique to this  specific series, making it easily identifiable.

[00:05:26]Notably, a folding bayonet in early  models, a fully hooded front sight, as well as a unique stock design in later models.

[00:05:35]As the 1990s progressed, more modern  Kalashnikov variants appeared in Baltic service. These included the  AK-74 and the folding-stock AKS-74.

[00:05:46]Introduced in the 1970s, the AK-74  represented a significant modernization of the Kalashnikov platform. Instead of  the traditional 7.62×39 mm cartridge, it used the smaller 5.45×39 mm round.  This lighter cartridge allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition while also  producing less recoil, improving controllability. Mimicking the performance  of the flatter shooting western 5.56×45mm The AK-74 family could be easily recognized  by its distinctive muzzle brake, which was designed to reduce recoil and muzzle rise  more effectively than earlier AKM designs.

[00:06:27]Even later variants of the AK-74 can  be seen in the hands of the soldiers (rather fresh by that point in time) with  distinct “Russian plum” synthetic furniture.

[00:06:39]Finally, one of the last weapons still encountered during this early rebuilding  period was the venerable SKS.

[00:06:45]Although not a Kalashnikov, the SKS (being  Sergei Simonov’s semi-automatic carbine) was an earlier Soviet design chambered  for the same 7.62×39 mm cartridge.

[00:06:57]With its fixed 10-round magazine, full  length wooden stock, and conventional layout, it reflected an older doctrinal  mindset of infantry rifle development.

[00:07:07]Despite its aging appearance,  the SKS was originally intended to serve alongside the AK 47 as the  Red Army’s primary infantry weapon, replacing the bolt-action M91/30 Mosin-Nagant and  providing a semi-automatic counterpart to the new assault rifle that was supposed to replace  the PPSH-41 and PPS-43 sub-machine-guns.

[00:07:30]That concept was unfortunately short lived: Once the AK platform proved superior  in mass production, firepower, and battlefield flexibility, the SKS was  quickly relegated to second line roles.

[00:07:43]By the 1990s the design was hopelessly obsolete,  and it became one of the first patterns to be completely phased out of military service as  more modern alternatives became available.

[00:07:55]Despite this wide range of variants, one important factor worked in the  Baltic militaries’ favor: familiarity.

[00:08:02]Most early soldiers and officers had previously served in Soviet formations or  had trained with Soviet weapons.

[00:08:09]Even when rifles came from different  countries or production runs, the manual of arms remained largely the same.

[00:08:16]Magazine changes, safety operation,  disassembly procedures, and basic handling were instantly recognizable to  anyone trained on the Kalashnikov platform.

[00:08:26]This allowed the Baltic states to  field operational units even while their inventories remained highly inconsistent.

[00:08:33]Among the three countries, Estonia  pursued one of the earliest and most decisive efforts to transition  away from Soviet small arms.

[00:08:41]In the mid-1990s, the country reached an  agreement with Israel to acquire the I-M-I Galil.

[00:08:47]The Galil was itself derived  from the Finnish RK62 rifle, which in turn was a highly refined  evolution of the Kalashnikov design.

[00:08:56]Mechanically familiar but manufactured to  use western 5.56mm ammo, the Galil provided Estonia with a solid bridge between Soviet  training and Western military equipment.

[00:09:08]Within Estonian service, the Galil became  the primary rifle for active-duty forces.

[00:09:14]At the same time, donated battle rifles such  as the Swedish Ak 4 were issued alongside them within conscript units and the Estonian  Defense League. These rifles used the 7.62×51 mm NATO cartridge and represented  an early step toward NATO standardization.

[00:09:32]Lithuania and Latvia followed a similar  path later in the decade. Both countries received donated rifles from Nordic partners,  including the Swedish AK4 and the Norwegian AG-3.

[00:09:43]While heavier than the Soviet assault rifles, these weapons used NATO ammunition and  put the countries on a path towards compatibility with western militaries, as  joining the NATO alliance was a priority.

[00:09:56]And so, with slow “westernization” of the Baltic  militaries in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Kalashnikov rifles gradually  disappeared from front-line service.

[00:10:07]Many were reassigned to reserve forces,  territorial defense units, border guards, or police organizations. Others remained in  storage as emergency mobilization weapons.

[00:10:18]In 2004, when the three Baltic  states formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that long  transition reached a symbolic conclusion.

[00:10:28]Many of those emergency stocks were later donated to Ukraine at the early stages of  the on-going Russo-Ukrainian war.

[00:10:36]In a period defined by economic  hardship, political uncertainty, and limited international support,  the rugged AK rifles helped the three newly-restored nations rebuild their  armed forces and secure their independence.

[00:10:51]Within a little more than a decade, those forces transformed from improvised  post-Soviet units into fully integrated NATO militaries - closing one chapter of Baltic  military history while beginning another.

[00:11:04]But what do You think about the  patchwork of Soviet weapons used by the Baltic States in the 1990s?  Let us know by leaving a comment!