Russia develops new assault rifle with effective firing range of grenade launcher

Russia is developing a unique DXL-5 sniper rifle capable of striking targets at a maximum range of seven kilometers, Lobaev Arms CEO, Vladislav Lobaev said, RIA Novosti reports.

The assault rifles with the longest effective firing range to date, "Sumrak" or "Twilight", also manufactured by Lobaev Arms, strike targets at a distance of 2,5 kilometers in confident firing and 4.2 kilometers in record firing.

"We are now working on an assault rifle and a cartridge with a record range of six to seven kilometers and for confident shooting - three kilometers. The preliminary name of the project is DXL-5. We have such products in this family as DXL-4 "Sevastopol" and DXL-3 "Retaliation." There are no rifles with such a firing range in the world market for sniper weapons," said Lobaev.

According to him, the rifle will have a new cartridge that will contain several technological innovations that make firing at such a distance possible.

"The new cartridge for this rifle is a brand new and breakthrough product - it will be larger in size and have the initial speed faster than that of all the bullets that we used before. I do not want to disclose all the details on the caliber and so forth," Vladislav Lobaev said.

Speaking about the timing, he said that the DXL-5 assault rifle would be ready at the beginning as early as in 2021.