Even possessing up to 75% of the characteristics of the AKS-74U, the OTs-14 Groza assault rifle also has its own highlights that make it trusted by Russian special forces.
The OTs-14 Groza is one of the rare bullpup (rear magazine) assault rifles developed by Russia and equipped for some special forces units in this country. It is known that the OTs-14 Groza gun still carries the typical designs of the legendary Soviet AK series assault rifles.
The OTs-14 Groza assault rifle was developed in the early 1990s by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau based on the AKS-74U variant.
Russia developed the OTs-14 Groza gun to equip special forces units that need a powerful but compact assault rifle. Because it is aimed at special forces, the gun is equipped with a standard silencer and scope.
In terms of design, the OTs-14 Groza assault rifle is developed on the basis of the AKS-74U and is 75% similar. Accordingly, the trigger assembly on the AKS-74U is moved to the front of the armrest, the folding stock and the old-fashioned mechanical sighting cluster were removed, with a new mechanical sight cluster that also holds the handle and the standard scope mount. The barrel is also shortened so that a silencer or hand grenade launcher can be attached, remaining all operating mechanisms on the OTs-14 Groza are similar to the AKS-74U.
Regarding the mechanism of action, the OTs-14 Groza is loaded with long-extraction compressed air with a rotating loading spindle, they have two versions using standard ammunition including 9×39 mm and 7.62x39mm. In which, the Groza-4 variant uses 9mm ammunition with only twenty rounds of ammunition, while the Groza-1 variant uses the same standard magazine as the regular AK series.
The gun can be fitted with a GP-25/30 40mm grenade launcher to increase combat power. With a compact design, the OTs-14 Groza submachine gun allows users to move more flexibly in limited space conditions but still retains the same firepower as on the AK series.
Depending on the use of 9mm and 7.62mm ammunition, the effective range of the OTs-14 Groza also changes, with the 9mm bullet having an effective range of 200m and up to 400m in the 7.62mm variant. Despite being an assault rifle, the OTs-14 Groza can still be used as a specialized sniper rifle for special forces with a standard silencer and scope.
The maximum length of an OTs-14 Groza is only 720mm even with the silencer much lower than some guns of the same type.
Currently, the OTs-14 Groza is used mainly in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and a few units of the Ministry of Defense.
However, the future of this bullpup gun model in Russia is quite murky as it gradually becomes out of fashion when next to it there are many better quality gun models. On the other hand, Russian military generals are not very fond of the bullpup design, so these guns are not widely used.