RPD light machine gun at the Mikkeli Infantry museum The RPD 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. [1] The development of the RPD commenced in 1943. Three prominent Soviet engineers were asked to submit their own designs: Vasily Degtyaryov, Sergei Simonov and Alexei Sudayev. Among the ...
The RPD was an automatic machine gun featuring a gas-operated long-stroke piston system paired with the locking system of earlier small arms developed by Vasily Degtyaryov. Weighing just 16.31 pounds, it was considerably lighter than other machine guns from the time, such as the M60, Bren Gun and M14A1.
RPD Machine Gun: The Soviet-Era Weapon That's Seen Nearly 80 Years of ...
Before the AK: The RPD Machine Gun The RPD was a belt-fed 7.62x39mm adaptation of the basic Degtyarev action that drove the WWII-vintage Soviet DP pan-fed machine gun. The RPD fed from a pair of non-disintegrating 50-round belts that linked together to provide 100 rounds of onboard firepower, all packed into a sheet steel drum.
The answer, in part, was the RPD; this lightweight, belt-fed machine gun became the first Soviet weapon explicitly designed to serve as a squad automatic weapon (SAW) firing the new intermediate 7.62x39 cartridge.
The RPD machine gun actually entered service with the Red Army in 1944 but continued in use front line until at least 1961, well into the Cold War. RPD stands for Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, (Degtyarov Hand-Held Machine Gun).
Page details technical specifications, development, and operational history of the RPD (Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova) Light Machine Gun (LMG) including pictures.