9A-91

   The 9A-91 compact assault rifle was originally developed for army service as a personal defense weapon, however it was accepted to service with Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs instead, as a cheaper equivalent of the SR-3 Vikhr for urban environment. It is a member of the A-91 compact weapon family, which includes versions chambered for various cartridges. A small scale production of the 9A-91 commenced in 1994. Currently it is one of the smallest assault rifles in the world.

   The 9A-91 is a gas operated, selective fire weapon. It is chambered for 9 x 39 mm cartridge and uses subsonic ammunition. It uses the SP-5 (ball round), SP-6 (armor piercing) and PAB-9 ( a lower cost version of the SP-6) rounds. The same ammunition is used by the Val silenced assault rifle. The actual effective range of the 9A-91 is limited to about 100 meters because of the short barrel, short sighting line and steep trajectory of the subsonic bullets. However at this range the 9 x 39 mm ammunition is superior in terms of penetration to 9 mm pistol rounds used in submachine guns and 5.45 mm and 5.56 mm ammunition from compact assault rifles. Also it is worth mentioning that the 9 x 39 mm bullets usually do not ricochet. This feature is extremely important in urban environment, firing inside the buildings.

   The safety / fire selector lever is located above the triggerguard. It has single shots and full-auto modes. The 9A91 is fed from box-shaped 20-round capacity magazines. Magazine release button is located under the triggerguard.

   A collapsible steel stock folds above the receiver. Foregrip and pistol handle are made of polymers. Small size of this assault rifle makes it maneuverable in restricted space areas.

   The iron sight has two fixed settings for 100 and 200 meters. A large number of accessories were developed specially for this compact assault rifle. The 9A-91 is compatible with silencer, laser pointers, various scopes or night vision sights. It is also compatible with the GP-95 40-mm underbarrel grenade launcher, specially developed for this compact assault rifle. It fires the standard VOG-25 and VOG-25M grenades.

Variants

   VSK-94 a small-size silenced sniper weapon, chambered for 9 x 39 mm subsonic ammunition. It has a claimed effective range of 400 m.