08 Czechoslovak Experimental Short Assault Rifle LADA-S calibre 5,45 x 39 mm

Fotogalerie

Efforts to modernise the infantry armament of the Czechoslovak People’s Army, reflecting the transition to the Soviet 5.45 x 39 mm cartridge, resulted in the development of a set of weapons codenamed LADA. The basic weapon LADA-S was created, where the additional letter S denoted a submachine gun (i.e. an assault rifle) in the terminology of the time, a reduced version of the LADA-KrS (short submachine gun) and the LADA-K handgun, equipped with a folding bipod and a 45-round magazine, similar to the Soviet RPK-74. The design system of the weapon was based on the Soviet AK 74 assault rifle, but with the exception of the magazines from a later stage of development, it had no interchangeable parts with the Soviet weapon.

Development work under the leadership of Jiří Čermák (1926–2006), designer of the assault rifle vz. 58 and a number of other weapons, took place in 1986–1989, when 48 prototypes of LADA weapons were gradually produced. The development of the weapon set was concluded by military tests carried out in early November 1989 at the Boletice military training area. Although all three versions of LADA weapons received a satisfactory rating, the introduction of the weapon set did not take place as a result of political events.