RPL-20

The RPL-20 is a light machine gun developed by Kalashnikov Concern for the Russian military. "20" indicates the year 2020.

History

Russian military forces have not fielded a squad-level, intermediate caliber, belt-fed machine gun since the retirement of the RPD in the early 1960s.
Since the rejection of the PU-21 project and adoption of the PKM, the Russian military has not indicated any desire for a belt-fed, intermediate caliber machine gun.
The MVD solicited designs for a similar weapon beginning in 2011, for use by counter-terror teams, though it did not follow through with any actual orders.
There have, however, been competitions to replace the RPK-74, leading to the selection of the RPK-16 for field trials.
Kalashnikov Concern has provided video of the RPL-20 being handled and fired, demonstrating that they have at least completed a fully-functioning prototype RPL-20.
Based on feedback from these field trials, Kalashnikov Concern independently began development of the RPL-20.
The RPL-20 was unveiled at the Army-2020 event in late August, 2020.
If adopted, the RPL-20 will become the first light machine gun to be used by Russian forces since the RPD that isn't magazine-fed or of the standard Kalashnikov pattern.

Design

Kalashnikov Concern has stated that the RPL-20 is a new design, rather than being a derivative of the ubiquitous Kalashnikov-pattern rifle series.
It is a belt-fed, open bolt, fully automatic light machine gun with a rotating bolt and a long-stroke gas piston.
With an empty weight of 5.2-5.5 kg, the RPL-20 rivals the weight of an RPK-74 while providing belt-fed, open-bolt operation and quick-change barrels to enhance sustained fire.
The RPL-20 uses a non-disintegrating linked belt similar to the RPD. Alternative designs experimented with a dual-feed option, considered to be an improvement over the RPK-74.
The choice to keep it belt-fed only was made to lighten the weapon and make it less complex than a dual-feed model, allowing the troops in the field to top off spent belts as a trade-off for not accepting standard-issue assault rifle magazines.
The RPL-20 is designed with two barrel length options: for regular troops and for assault units.

Variants

RPL-7

The RPL-7 is a 7.62×39mm variant of the RPL-20.
The RPL-7 features a 415 mm and 590 mm barrel lengths, and uses a soft ammunition box that holds 80-rounds through a non-disintegrating belt.

Adoption

The RPL-20 is anticipated to serve as a squad automatic weapon in Russian military use, supplementing the heavier-caliber PK machine guns currently used for suppressive fire while still providing a higher practical rate of fire than the RPK series.
As of January 2024, Kalashnikov Concern completed preliminary tests of the RPL-20 machine gun, and Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation plans to conduct state trials of the machine gun in 2024.
The first serial batch was produced in May 2025 and shipped to the Russian military the following month. The weapon was ordered in MultiCam camouflage pattern.