K-3

The K-3 represents Armenia's ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to develop an indigenous assault rifle during a period of intense regional insecurity following the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Unveiled at an Armenian defense exhibition in October 1996, the bullpup design was remarkably innovative for a small post-Soviet nation with limited defense manufacturing infrastructure. By reconfiguring the familiar and readily maintainable Kalashnikov action into a compact bullpup package, Armenian designers sought to create a weapon that combined Soviet-era reliability with modern ergonomics. The use of standard AK-74 magazines ensured compatibility with existing ammunition stocks and logistics chains. However, the extremely limited production run of roughly 40 units tells the story of a defense industry constrained by economic realities. The K-3 remains one of the most obscure assault rifle designs of the post-Cold War era, known primarily to small arms researchers and military historians.

The K-3 is based on the AK-74 action mechanism reconfigured into a bullpup layout. Due to the position of its ejection port, the rifle can only be fired right-handed. It accepts standard AK-74 30-round magazines and can also use 45-round magazines. The muzzle has an attachment allowing the firing of 3K-3 fragmentation rifle grenades, and a newer version reportedly fires grenades without any separate attachment. An adjustable diopter rear sight and front post are standard, with an optional PSO-1 4x telescopic sight. Despite its promising design, the K-3 never progressed beyond the prototype stage in significant numbers, with only approximately 40 pre-production units reportedly manufactured.