SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle Special Operation Body Guard

The SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle (Whirlwind) was first revealed to the world at various international arms shows in 1992, but development may have started as early as the mid-1980s. It was first confused with another short assault rifle that had not yet been seen at that time in public, the A-91M. Cousins of the Vikhr include the AS Val silent assault rifle and the VSS Vintorez silent sniper rifle. The SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle is sometimes called the MA, since “MA” was its development designation (the contraction for the Russians words meaning “small-size assault rifle”).

SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle

The SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle is very much a special duty weapon; aside from special operations use, it is believed that the SR-3 Vikhr is generally found only in the special briefcases carried by the FSO bodyguards of certain high government officials. (FSO is roughly the Russian equivalent of the VIP protection detachment of the US Secret Service).

SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle

The SR-3 Vikhr (Whirlwind) fires the same 9mm SP5 and SP6 rounds, and is meant to provide a weapon capable of high armor penetration and inflicting serious wounds, but is also fairly concealable. It uses the same 10 and 20-round magazines of the AS and VSS, and the operating system is essentially identical. There are two versions of the Vikhr: early production models (also known as the MA) , with very-low profile sights and no sort of muzzle device, and more recent versions, which have larger rear sights, a ribbed fore-end for a better grip, and a small muzzle brake.

SR-3M Vikhr Assault Rifle

No provision is made in either case for mounting any sort of silencer or sound suppressor. Metal parts are of steel (mostly machined), including the top-folding stock. The sights of the SR-3 Vikhr are also much simpler than those of the AS. The AK-type safety has been replaced with an ambidextrous thumb switch above the trigger guard, but the fire selector remains the same crossbolt button behind the trigger. The charging mechanism can be difficult to master; though it slides quite easy, it consists of a pair of sliders on either side of the SR-3 Vikhr which must be pinched between the thumb and finger and pulled back. This charging mechanism helps dehorn the SR-3 Vikhr, but is unusual for those not trained in the SR-3 Vikhr’s use.

Similar to above; the SR-3 Vikhr Assault Rifle was almost never seen outside the hands of Russian special operations or certain bodyguard details, though in a few instances it turned up in Polish use. Only early-production versions of the SR-3 Vikhr  Assault Rifle are available in the Twilight 2000 timeline. Being a rather expensive weapon for its size and weight, the Russian budget just didn’t have the money to build all the SR-3 Vikhrs the military was asking for. Most SR-3 Vikhrs became weapons for the bodyguards sometimes of government officials, sometimes for organized crime bosses.