JSC Metallist Uralsk Plant NSV (Utyos)

The NSV (also known as the Utyos) is a 12.7mm caliber heavy machine gun of Soviet origin, named after the designers, G. I. Nikitin, Y. S. Sokolov and V. I. Volkov. It was designed to replace the DShK machine gun and was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1971. The NSV weighs 25 kg (55 lb), has a rate of fire of 700–800 rounds per minute, and an effective range from 1,500 m (1,600 yd) to 2,000 m (2,200 yd) against airborne and ground targets, respectively. A loaded ammunition belt with 50 rounds weighs 11 kg (24 lb). The NSVT version is used on the T-72, T-64 and T-80 tanks. The machine gun is gas-operated. The gas cylinder is mounted under the barrel and fitted with a gas regulator with two lateral holes of different diameters for bleeding expanding powder gases into the cylinder and the gas piston recess. The machine gun is fitted with a quick-change barrel attached to the receiver by a wedge latch. The barrel should be cooled or replaced after 100 shots ft can be changed without removing the machine gun from a tripod or a mount. There is a handle on the barrel or carrying the machine gun and easy replacement of the barrel. The NSV is no longer being produced in Russia; the manufacturing license for the NSV ended up in Kazakhstan after the break-up of the Soviet Union. The NSV has been manufactured in Bulgaria, India and Poland under license. The NSV is currently being replaced by the Kord heavy machine gun. The Russian Army needed a more accurate heavy machine gun, and it has also been increasingly difficult to get hold of spare parts. NSV production was located in Ukraine and in Kazakhstan and was disrupted by the end of the Soviet Union. Variants: 12.7 Itkk 96: Finnish designation. Guns acquired from Soviet Union, Russia and Germany. NSW: Polish version, license built NSV. WKM-B: Polish version adapted for NATO-standard .50 BMG ammunition. KT-12.7: Ukrainian version. MG-U: Bulgarian version.