Cugir Arms Factory is a Romanian state owned defence company that is one of the oldest defence companies of Romania. Cugir Arms Factory has a history that can be traced back to 1799 during the Austrian Empire. The steel manufacturing workshops were founded in Cugir, Romania which is one of the first metallurgical factories in Transylvania. Cugir Arms Factory now produces products compatible with NATO standards. [1] [2]
Facility expansion started in 1926 with construction of new production halls. Militarization of the plant began during wartime and was managed by modern weapons manufacturing specialists. During the cooperation period with Vickers Armstrong Ltd. of London artillery parts and assemblies were manufactured. Later Zbrojovka Brno of Czechoslovakia took over the factory which resulted redesigning the production for infantry weapons and ammunition. Hermann Göring took over the company’s shares in World War II.[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ]
Cugir produced the first Romanian-designed weapon 9mm caliber submachine gun, Parabellum, “Oriţa” type. SC Cugir Mechanical Plant SA was divided in 2004, SC Cugir Arms Factory SA, a subsidiary of the National Company ROMARM. [3]
The plant produced the Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965 (PM md. 63), and GP 75 AKM rifles Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy (AKM) series of Kalashnikov rifles based on the Russian AKM design of 1959. [4] The factory also produces the popular AK style weapon the WASR-series rifles semi-automatic only variant of the AKM rifle. [5] [6]
The Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 is a twin-barreled 23 mm autocannon developed in the Soviet Union, primarily for military aircraft use. It entered service in 1965, replacing the earlier Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 and Rikhter R-23.
The RPK, sometimes retroactively termed the RPK-47, is a Soviet 7.62×39mm light machine gun that was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the early 1960s, in parallel with the AKM assault rifle. It was created to standardize the small arms inventory of the Soviet Army, where it replaced the 7.62×39mm RPD machine gun. The RPK continues to be used by the military of the post-Soviet states and certain African and Asian nations. The RPK is also manufactured in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia.
Cugir is a town in Alba County, Romania. Declared a town in 1968, it administers seven villages: Bocșitura, Bucuru (Bukuruhavas/Bukur), Călene (Kalenihavas/Kalleney), Fețeni (Fecehavas/Fetzeberg), Goașele (Goaselehavas/Eisenhammer), Mugești (Mugestihavas/Kudschirstallen), and Vinerea (Felkenyér/Oberbrodsdorf).
Wassenaar Arrangement Semi-automatic Rifles are a line of Romanian-designed gas-operated semi-automatic rifles sold in the United States by Century International Arms. The rifles are manufactured in Romania by the Cugir Arms Factory and are a semi-automatic variant of the Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965, a Romanian licensed derivative of the Soviet AKM assault rifle. Century imports them and modifies them in order to comply with national legislation before sale to the general public via licensed traders. The WASR series takes its name from the 1996 Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime to monitor and limit the proliferation of certain conventional weapons and dual-use technologies.
The TR-85 is a main battle tank designed for the armed forces of Romania. Based on the TR-77-580, the TR-85 tank was developed from 1978 to 1985 and produced from 1986 until 1990. A modernization program was initiated in March 1994 to upgrade the TR-85 tanks to NATO standards. The result was the TR-85M1 Bizonul ("Bison") third-generation main battle tank, currently the most modern tank in service with the Romanian Land Forces. Although a further development of the T-55, the TR-85M1 uses a T-block powerpack based on a V8 German 830 hp (620 kW) diesel engine, an improved turret, a locally-designed "Ciclop" fire control system, new 100 mm BM-412 Sg armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS-T) projectiles and a fully redesigned suspension with 6 road wheels on each side, protected by metal side skirts. Combat weight is 50 tons.
Imperial Tula Arms Plant is a Russian weapons manufacturer founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia in 1712 in Tula, Tula Oblast as Tula Arsenal. Throughout its history, it has produced weapons for the Russian state. Its name was changed from Tula Arsenal to Tula Arms Plant during the Soviet era.
The Orița is a 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun that was manufactured in Romania during World War II and for several years afterwards. It was named for Captain Marin Orița, who is credited in Romania with its design. The mass production was made by CMC Uzinele Metallurgice Copșa Mică together with Cugir Arms Factory. The first version, Model 1941, entered operational service with the Romanian Army in 1943. Two later improved models were the Model 1948, with a fixed wooden stock, and the rare paratrooper Model 1949, with a folding metal stock. It remained in service with the Romanian Army until it was replaced in the 1960s by the more powerful Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965, a Romanian version of the AK-47 assault rifle. The Orița remained in service with the Patriotic Guards until the 1970s.
Before 1989, Romania was among the top ten arms exporters in the world, however its arms industry declined considerably during the 1990s. Exports fell from roughly $1 billion before 1989 to about $43 million in 2006, and the number of employees also fell from 220,000 in 1990 to 20,000 in 2009. Sales to the Romanian Armed Forces have plunged after Romania's accession to NATO in 2004, as factories continue to produce Warsaw Pact-caliber weapons and ammunition, which are incompatible with their Western counterparts.
The AKM is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It was developed as the successor to the AK-47 adopted by the Soviet Union a decade prior.
Kalashnikov rifles, also known as the AK platform, AK rifles or simply the AK, are a family of assault rifles based on Mikhail Kalashnikov's original design. They are officially known in Russian as avtomat Kalashnikova, and informally as "kalash" in Russian. They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, first by Izhmash and later by Kalashnikov Concern. Rifles similar to the Kalashnikov and its Soviet variants were later produced in many countries friendly to the Soviet Bloc, with rifles based on its design such as the Galil ACE and the INSAS also being produced. The Kalashnikov is one of the most widely used firearms in the world, with an estimated 72 million rifles in global circulation.
The Pușcă Automată model 1986 is the standard assault rifle used by the Romanian Military Forces. It is manufactured in Cugir, Romania by the ROMARM firm, located in Bucharest. The export name for this variant is the AIMS-74.
The Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965 is a Romanian 7.62×39mm assault rifle. Developed in the late 1950s, the PM md. 63 was a derivative of the Soviet AKM produced under license. It was the standard-issue infantry weapon of the Army of the Socialist Republic of Romania until the late 1980s, after which it was gradually superseded by the Pușcă Automată model 1986, a derivative of the Soviet AK-74.
The PSL is a Romanian designated marksman rifle. It is also called PSL-54C, Romak III, FPK and SSG-97. Though similar in appearance, mission and specifications to the SVD Dragunov, the PSL rifle is mechanically completely different as it is based on the RPK light machinegun, with its internals simply being scaled up to accommodate the more powerful 7.62×54mmR cartridge.
ROMARM is a Romanian state-owned defense company and Romania's main supplier for defense technique and services. The company owns 15 factories and a research institute.
Century International Arms is an importer and manufacturer of firearms based in the United States. The company was founded in 1961 in St. Albans, Vermont, with offices in Montreal. In 1995, the company headquarters and sales staff moved to Boca Raton, Florida and to Delray Beach, Florida in 2004.
The Z111 Factory, formally registered as the 11 Precise Mechanical One Member Liability Company, is a state-owned firearms and precision mechanics factory located in Thanh Hoá, Vietnam.
A cadet rifle is a rifle used by military cadets and others for basic firearms and marksmanship training. Generally .22 caliber and bolt-action, they also come in semi-automatic versions. They are often miniature .22 caliber versions of standard issue service rifles.
The WASR-22 or AK-22 Trainer is a .22 Long Rifle, semi-automatic cadet rifle loosely based upon the AK-47 and manufactured in Romania by Nova Modul. Unlike the AK-47, it uses a simple blowback method of operation. As such, it has no gas system and the internal components have been modified accordingly.
Pirotehnia Armatei was the munitions factory of the Romanian Army. It was founded in Bucharest on 23 November 1861. In 1939 it was moved to Sadu (Bumbești-Jiu) where it continued to work as Pirotehnia Armatei Sadu until 1948. Today the factory is known as the Sadu Mechanical Plant. The former factory from Bucharest was eventually transformed into the "9 May" Plant in 1950, and was demolished in 2009.
