Because nothing conveys "peace" more than the name Kalashnikov.
The Russian manufacture of the legendary/infamous AK-47 is looking to move up-market. Faced with soft domestic and international sales, the company has re-branded with a new logo to match a new, modernized assault rifle.
It's believed upwards of 100-million AK-47s have been distributed world wide to wreak incredible havoc, carnage and suffering. The weapon's designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov, died last year.
Now the company has an updated assault rifle, a new corporate logo and a new motto: in Russian, "Weapons of Peace." In English, "Protecting Peace."
Here, in Russian, is a trip down Kalashnikov's very selective Memory Lane:
Interesting. I was unaware of the existence of a Kalashnikov Group. My understanding was that MK original design a weapon that could easily be made by revolutionaries and that the plans were freely distributed. A company making money off it just seems ... off.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of Kalashnikov freely distributing the designs. It's a bloody easy weapon to copy and there are plenty of hand-made copies, awfully primitive stuff, available cheap in Pakistan's tribal territories and elsewhere. The bulk market seems to be fed ex-Eastern European models.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of manufacture, that gun is probably worth more than that kid in your picture earns in a month. Someone pays big bucks to arm these kids. The kid doesn't win; other people with greedy interests do. It's really very sad.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I had in mind when I chose that photo, Toby.
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