Factory to produce Kalashnikov submachine guns in Venezuela could be ready for 2020-2021.

The completion date for the construction of a plant, which will produce the Kalashnikov submachine guns in Venezuela, has been shifted to 2020-2021, Dmitry Shugayev, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said on the sidelines of the 14th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2019.

Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifle (Picture source Vitaly Kuzmin)

"In Venezuela it’s going to be 2020-2021 with account taken of the current situation," Shugayev said when asked when the plant would be built.

According to him, the military-technical cooperation with Venezuela is focused on the maintenance and servicing of the hardware, which the country already has, including air defense equipment, aircraft and helicopters. "All the contracts are valid. We are helping them to maintain [the hardware’s] operational readiness," Shugayev said. He added that most of the brigades, which were working in Venezuela, specialized in helicopters and air defense equipment. In view of the fact that warranties for all the equipment and hardware are over, Russian experts are staying in Venezuela to help their Venezuelan partners with repairs.

The plant for the production of the Kalashnikov submachine-guns is being built under a contract signed in July 2006. The Venezuelan experts are expected to master a full cycle of AK-103 licensed production. The plant will be able to manufacture about 25,000 submachine-guns a year. The plant will also produce more than 50 million cartridges a year.