Lebedev pistol to be adopted by Russian Air Force pilots

The Lebedev modular pistol (MPL) will soon enter service with pilots of the Russian Air Force, sources in the military department told Izvestia.

According to Dmitry Lebedev, a leading design engineer at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, who developed this small arms model, it is now already being actively used in the area of the Strategic Air Defense Forces.

According to experts, the issue of new armament is long overdue and even overripe - the existing pistols need to be changed.

"So pilots are armed with a pistol in order to be able to fight off the enemy or animals when ejecting. Now they are issued a Stechkin or Makarov pistol for emergencies. But frankly speaking, these weapons are already old, both in the first and second cases," military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.

Military expert Dmitry Kornev noted that modern materials are used in the manufacture of Lebedev's pistol - less metal, more plastic or composite materials, which reduces the weight of the weapon.

"The army also uses the pistol. In particular, it is an individual means of defense in tankers. There are situations in battle when the machine gun runs out of ammunition, and you need to fight off the remnants of the enemy's accumulation of manpower. And, having good characteristics, Lebedev's pistol may become quite in demand in the army," he summarized.

The MPL is a new combat model of compact small arms developed by the Kalashnikov Concern. It is designed for the use of 9x19 mm cartridges, including high-power.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive article:

Loaded into series: law enforcement agencies will receive Lebedev's new pistol