In this episode, we're taking a look at the PKP Pecheneg. The Pecheneg is one of the available light machine guns in Modern Warfare 3, and is a new weapon to the series. It's Russian in origin, hailing from TsNII Toch Mash: a Russian design bureau responsible for many small arms designs of the Russian military. The Pecheneg is a modern LMG design, based on Kalashnikov's earlier PK machine gun. The PK was first introduced in 1961, replacing the earlier RPD light machine gun and SG-43 Goryunov medium machine gun in service. The PK design was modernised in the 1969 PKM variant: a more lightweight, generally improved version. The Pecheneg is a further evolution of the design: rather than a replaceable barrel common to many machine gun designs, the Pecheneg instead opts for a heavier barrel better designed for heat dispersion via air-cooling. In addition, the flash suppressor is improved - and the bipod is positioned much closer to the muzzle, improving the stability of the weapon. Similar to the Pecheneg is the AEK-999 - a slightly less conventional design with integral suppressor: reducing noise levels, and eliminating muzzle flash, making the weapon ideally suited for nighttime combat. The Pecheneg enetered service in 1999 with Russian military units, notably Spetznatz units operating in Chechnya. It fires the venerable 7.62 by 54mm rimmed cartridge - the oldest cartridge still in regular service, originally developed for the Mosin-Nagant rifle in 1891. The Pecheneg is a belt-fed weapon, and is typically fed from a detachable box containing 100, 200 or 250 rounds. Under fully automatic fire, it will dispense these at a rate of around 650 rounds per minute, and will do so for a considerable amount of sustained fire. The Pecheneg design is heavier than the earlier PKM due to its heavier barrel, weighing in at 8.7 kilograms with bipod configuration - some 1.2 kilos difference. Overall length is a little over 1.1m, with the barrel