NSV machine gun

The NSV Utyos (Cyrillic: НСВ, initialism for Никитин-Соколов-Волков, Nikitin-Sokolov-Volkov; Russian: Утёс, lit. 'Cliff'), is a Soviet heavy machine gun chambered in 12.7×108mm. It is named after the designers, G. I. Nikitin, Y. М. 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 was manufactured at the Metallist plant in Uralsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union. The vehicle-mounted NSVT variant is used on the T-72, T-64 and T-80 main battle tanks. Like many Soviet weapons, the NSV was also licence produced by Yugoslavia as the M87. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia began development on the Kord heavy machine gun, while Belarus, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Vietnam all introduced their own copies of the NSV. 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).