The rights to use their names in Kalashnikov Concern's products have been transferred to the company by designers Dmitriy Lebedev and Andrey Chukavin, who have signed an agreement to that effect. From this point forward, Kalashnikov is legally permitted to use the names of the designers not only when marking weapons like the Lebedev compact pistol (PLK), Lebedev modular pistol (MPL), Chukavin sniper rifle (SVCh), etc., but also when manufacturing related goods, especially promotional and memorabilia items.
The Concern had previously concluded similar agreements with the legendary designer Mikhail Kalashnikov (in 2013), while Vladimir Yarygin did the same for the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, in 2017.
The Lebedev pistols (PLK, MPL, and MPL1) were approved for military use in Russia in 2022 and were subsequently added to the state defense order for the ensuing years. On November 25, 2022, Dmitriy Lebedev received the Order "For Military Merit" from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last year, the Chukavin sniper rifle (SVCh) also underwent successful trials before going into service. As previously reported, the Dragunov SVD, the Russian army's primary sniper rifle, will be replaced by the SVCh. Almost 60 years after being put into service, the Dragunov rifle is now to be succeeded by the cutting-edge Chukavin rifle.