Ukraine To Replace Russian Origin Kalashnikov With American M16 Assault Rifle

Ukraine will manufacture a new assault rifle, WAC-47 based on the M16 as a result of the Memorandum of Cooperation between UOP SE “Ukroboronservis” and the American company, Aeroscraft.

The assault rifle is to become the new firearm standard of the Ukrainian forces compatible with NATO standards. "The country is facing a global strategic problem: departure from Soviet weapons systems, offers a variety of options to solve this problem effectively," the company said in a statement Friday.

The WAC-47 that will be produced in Ukraine is to replace several variants of the Russian origin AK-47 currently being used by the country's armed forces.

The Ukrainian considering manufacturing the M4 which is a shorter version of M16A2. The US Special Operations Command has defined this assault rifle as weapon for all US special operations.

The WAC-47 based on M16 has design modularity allowing mounting barrels of different length, depending on requirements: 10.5 “, 11.5”, 14.5 “, 18” or 24“.

This allows adjusting the weapon under the individual soldier’s tasks. For example, an infantry sniper can use a long 24-inch barrel, which ensures effective accurate fire at 600 meters, while the short 10.5-inch barrel better meets the requirements for individual compact automatic firearms.

“This project will enable transition of the Ukrainian Army and industry to NATO standards. "Our soldiers will be armed with Ukrainian weapons,“ UOP Deputy Director General for Aircraft Industry and Operations Volodymyr Korobov was quoted in the press release.