AKM Assault Rifle (MPiKM) : HMAS Darwin

7.62mm AKM style assault rifle. Weapon's butt stock is fabricated from laminated timber, trigger grip is stained softwood, the lower forestock is beech, and the upper forestock is of an unknown hardwood. Rear sight is calibarated to 800 m. Corrugated steel cover on receiver. Plain steel trigger guard. Rear sling attachment on butt, on left hand side. Fore sling attachment point is on the forestock band. Gas piston tube has no vent holes. Fire selector markings are engraved with D (for dauerfeur) and E (for einzelfeuer). This indicates possibly an East German (DDR) manufacture. When manufactured in the DDR the weapon was known as the MPiKM - Maschinenpistole Kalashnikow modernisiert. There are no manufacturer's marks (other than a serial number) present.

Weapon seized by HMAS Darwin on 27 February 2016 from a stateless fishing vessel, the 'Samer', approximately 170 nautical miles (313 kilometres) off the coast of Oman and headed for the Somalian coast. The intercepted weapon cache, which was concealed under fishing nets, included some 1989 AKM assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60mm mortar tubes. Darwin's deployment on Operation MANITOU in January-July 2016 was part of Australia's committment to the Combined Maritime Forces, (CMF) a multinational effort to prevent terrorism, piracy and drug smuggling in the Middle East and off the North East Coast of Africa.