Russian special operations forces, often referred to collectively as SSO, were recently seen sporting an Italian Beretta ARX160 assault rifle, Dylan Malyasov rports on Defence Blog.
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A civilian manipulates the Beretta ARX160 assault rifle of a Sussian Special Forces member  (Picture source: via Defence Blog)

Military experts identified the Italian ARX160 carbine in use by Russian Commandos at a photo released on social media. Previously, there was no information in open sources about the purchase of the newest Italian-made assault rifles do the Russian Armed Forces.

The Beretta ARX160 is an Italian modular assault rifle manufactured by Beretta. Developed for the Italian Armed Forces as part of the Soldato Futuro ("Future Soldier") program, the ARX160 was launched in 2008 as a commercial weapon system independent from the Soldato Futuro ensemble, complete with a companion single-shot 40×46mm NATO low-velocity grenade launcher, called the GLX160, which can be mounted underneath the rifle or used with an ad hoc stock system as a stand-alone weapon. In late 2015, Beretta introduced the Beretta ARX200 chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.

In late 2015, the Beretta ARX200 rifle was introduced and is being supplied to the Italian Army. It is a distant derivative of the ARX160 modular assault rifle. It has passed the following military and environmental tests; cold and hot temperature, temperature and humidity, ice, salt fog, heavy rain, salt water, sand and dust, mud, unlubricated, double feeding proof, and barrel obstruction proof.

The ARX160 A3 was one of the 5 finalists of the French Army tender to replace the FAMAS, eventually won by the German-made HK416.

In January 2019, the Romanian Armed Forces chose the ARX160 A3 to replace the old PM Md.1963 (7,62x39 mm) and PM Md.1986 (5,45x39 mm) of the Romanian Land Forces. Production should start in Autumn 2019 at Uzina Plopeni of ROMARM.