Editing RPK (section)

{{Short description|Light machine gun}}
{{other uses}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = RPK
| image              = 7.62mm light machine gun RPK.png
| caption            = RPK with a bipod and 40-round box magazine
| type               = [[Light machine gun]]
<!-- Type selection -->
| service            = 1961–present
| wars               = [[Palestinian-Israeli Conflict]]<br />[[Vietnam War]]<br />[[South African Border War]]<br />[[Somali Civil War]]<br />[[Yom Kippur War]]<ref name ="syria">{{cite book |first=David |last=Campbell |others=Illustrated by Johnny Shumate |title=Israeli Soldier vs Syrian Soldier: Golan Heights 1967–73 |series=Combat |volume=18 |year=2016 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7MODAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-472813305 |access-date=2018-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930232108/https://books.google.fr/books?id=_7MODAAAQBAJ |archive-date=2018-09-30 |url-status=live}}</ref><br />[[Lebanese Civil War]]<br />[[Angolan Civil War]]<br />[[War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Afghan Wars]]<br />[[Salvadoran Civil War]]<br />[[Iran–Iraq War]]<br />[[Lord's Resistance Army insurgency]]<br />[[Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)]]<ref name ='SAS 2005'>{{cite book |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html |chapter-url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2005/en/Small-Arms-Survey-2005-Chapter-06-EN.pdf |chapter=Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones |title=Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2005 |author=Small Arms Survey |author-link=Small Arms Survey |page=166 |isbn=978-0-19-928085-8 |access-date=2018-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830004838/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2005.html |archive-date=2018-08-30 |url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[Gulf War]]<br />[[Yugoslav Wars]]<br />[[Burundian Civil War]]<ref name ='SAS 2007 6'>{{cite book |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2007.html |chapter-url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2007/en/full/Small-Arms-Survey-2007-Chapter-06-EN.pdf |chapter=Armed Violence in Burundi: Conflict and Post-Conflict Bujumbura |title=The Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2007 |author=Small Arms Survey |author-link=Small Arms Survey |page=204 |isbn=978-0-521-88039-8 |access-date=2018-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827001033/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/yearbook/small-arms-survey-2007.html |archive-date=2018-08-27 |url-status=live}}</ref> <br />[[Iraq War]]<br />[[Militias-Comando Vermelho conflict]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/02/21/weapons-rios-crime-war/ |title=Weapons of Rio's crime war |date=2017-02-21 |website=The Firearm Blog |access-date=2022-11-03 |language=en-US|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306193654/https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/02/21/weapons-rios-crime-war/|archive-date= March 6, 2023}}</ref><br />[[First Libyan Civil War]]<br />[[Syrian Civil War]]<br />[[War in Iraq (2013–2017)]]<br />[[Second Libyan Civil War]]<br />[[War in Donbas (2014–2022)|War in Donbas]]<br />[[Ethiopian civil conflict (2018-present)]]<br/>[[Russo-Ukrainian War]]
<!-- Production history -->
| designer           = [[Mikhail Kalashnikov]]
| number             = 
| spec_label         = 
| length             = {{convert|1040|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} (stock extended)
| width              = 
| height             = 
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| action             = [[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]], [[rotating bolt]]; [[closed bolt]]
| image_size         = 300
| origin             = [[Soviet Union]]
| is_ranged          = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| design_date        = 1959-61
| manufacturer       = [[Vyatskiye Polyany Machine-Building Plant]]
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 1961–1978
| variants           = See ''[[#Variants|Variants]]''
<!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = {{convert|4.8|kg|lb|1|abbr=on}}
| part_length        = {{convert|590|mm|abbr=on|1}}
| cartridge          = [[7.62×39mm M43]]
| rate               = 600 rounds/min
| velocity           = {{convert|745|m/s|0|abbr=on}}
| range              = 100–1,000 m sight adjustments, Windage adjustable at the rear sight
| max_range          = 
| feed               = 30-, 40-round box magazine, 75-round drum magazine
| sights             = [[Iron sights]]: semi-shrouded front post and rear sliding tangent with an adjustable notch
}}

The '''RPK''' ({{langx|ru|Ручной пулемёт Калашникова/РПК|Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova|link=no}}, English: "Kalashnikov's hand-held machine gun"), sometimes inaccurately 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 several African and Asian nations. The RPK is also manufactured in [[defense industry of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Fegyver- és Gépgyár|Hungary]], [[arms industry in Romania|Romania]], and [[Defense industry of Serbia|Serbia]].