These two renders have been doing the round on Russian social media. Apparently they were made by Russian students. They show a very AK-74 (or AK-12?) rifle with a very modern angular design.

Compare it with the Kalashnikov AK-12 below …

I much prefer the aesthetically pleasing AK-15 compared to the no-nonsense all-work no-play design of the AK-12.

The AK-15 does fall short in two areas. Firstly the magazine design is overly bulky for the sake of aesthetics. Secondly the forend is no wide enough in my opinion and it looks to be made out of the same steel or aluminium as the receiver. I think it would heat up rapidly. Making it wider and adding the ability to screw on side rails would improve the design.

What do you all of think of this design?