AKS-74U

The AKS-74u (Russian: Автомат Калашникова Складной образца 1974 года Укороченный Avtomat Kalashnikova Skladnoy obraztsa goda 1974 Ukorochenniy; English: Automatic Kalashnikov Folding model 1974 Shortened) is a Soviet carbine, developed in the late 1970's from the AKS-74 assault rifle (itself a folding-stock variant of the AK-74), firing the 5.45x39mm M74 cartridge. The AKS-74u straddles the line between assault rifle and submachine gun, firing assault rifle ammunition with a severely abbreviated barrel which allows for maneuverability in restricted spaces, yet noticeably decreases both its accuracy and muzzle velocity.

Battlefield 2
"The AK-74u is a shortened version of the AK-74 and is intended as a personal defense weapon for tank and helicopter crews. It lacks accuracy at longer ranges but is easier to handle in confined spaces."

- In-game description

The AK-74U in Battlefield 2, is the standard primary weapon for the Special Forces on the MEC team. It comes with a Kobra Red Dot Sight and sports desert camouflage. It has the highest stopping power of all the standard Spec Ops Kit weapons; compared to its American counterpart, the M4A1 Carbine, it does more damage at the cost of lower accuracy and sight magnification.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
The AKS 74U appears in the hands of the MEC Special Ops Kit. Equipped with a Red Dot Sight and a suppressor, it has high rate of fire, good power, high accuracy and little recoil make it an easy gun to use.

Battlefield: Bad Company
"A shortened, modified version of the legendary AK-47. Popular among Russian special forces for its size, but suffering from limited range and accuracy. Despite this, it's a very powerful and reliable rifle."

- In game description

In Battlefield: Bad Companys singleplayer mode, the AKS74u' can be found on dead Russian commandos. Like all the compact assault rifles, it comes with a permanently attached suppressor.

In multiplayer, it is the default compact assault rifle issued to the Russian Specialist Kit. The SCAR and the 9A91 are its American and MEC counterparts, respectively. It has a 60 round magazine (with 180 in reserve) and a good fire rate, and kills in around 10-15 shots, making it statistically equivalent to its in-game counterparts. Essentially a close quarters weapon, it is relatively accurate compared to the other compact assault rifles in the game and can be fired in an automatic mode effectively at medium ranges; it is not a good weapon to use at longer ranges.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
In Battlefield: Bad Company 2 singleplayer mode, the AKS-74u Krinkov can be acquired easily in the final mission, Airborne. The player is immediately forced to pick up and use the weapon and enemies use it either with iron or Red Dot Sights.

In multiplayer, the AKS-74u Krinkov is the 4th compact weapon issued to the Engineer Kit, requiring 16,000 points for to unlock; a player pre-ordering from GameStop or BartSmit can immediately unlock it by redeeming the pre-order code. It has a 30 round magazine and, like all other engineer-issued carbines, is equipped with suppressor.

Its moderate damage and rate of fire make it effective at close ranges. However, its now high recoil makes It is advised to burst fire at long range. A patch increased its recoil in an effort to make using it at longer ranges more difficult.

Battlefield Play4Free
In Battlefield Play4Free, the AKS-74U is a purchasable submachine gun for the Engineer Kit. It is a close-range powerhouse with the highest damage at short distances out of any other weapon in its class. This comes at a great cost, however, as the AKS-74U has incredible recoil and a mere 15 rounds per magazine. The weapon's spread is also large, making it far better to use in close quarters where it excels.

Equipping the AKS-74U with Casket Mags will alleviate its low capacity issue and serves the best solution for those who want to maximize ammunition capacity with the weapon, unlike other SMGs that would need Extra Magazines to benefit from the most ammunition available. A Stabilized Stock can lower horizontal recoil and hip-fire inaccuracy, while a Thunderbolt Stock can lower vertical recoil to help the AKS-74U at range.

The weapon can be bought for 300 for a day or 45,000  to have forever by Credits, or 69  for a day, 179  for a week, 499  for a month, or 1,249  Play4Free Funds to have forever, putting the AKS-74U in a moderate price range for its damage output.

Battlefield 3
"Derived from the AKS-74, the AKS-74u is a shortened Carbine with the power of a rifle cartridge but the size of a submachine gun. Often called by its nickname “Krinkov” the shortened barrel makes the weapon inaccurate at medium ranges but extremely effective in close quarters. Due to its incredibly short length the AKS-74U cannot mount a bipod."

- Battlelog description

Singleplayer
The AKS-74u in Battlefield 3 singleplayer and cooperative modes is one of the primary weapons of the PLR and Iranian military. It is first found in Semper Fidelis/The Great Destroyer, where the player takes one from a PLR soldier after the first quick time event of the level(s). It is also one of the player's starting weapons along with the AS VAL in Comrades. It is most heavily used in the missions taking place outside of Iran -- where it is largely offset by the KH2002.

Multiplayer
The AKS-74u is the default Russian carbine for the Engineer kit. It functions in a similar manner to its larger relative, the AK-74M, with a slower firerate its USMC counterpart, but is less effective at long range and more effective at close range compared to the AK-74M. As the final unlock for the Engineer, the player will unlock the ability to use the AKS-74u while playing as the US faction, as well as being able to use the M4A1 for the RU faction.

Due to its lower firerate, this gun is less effective at close ranges than the M4A1, but the more controlled firerate makes its recoil slightly more predictable at medium ranges. In terms of recoil and firerate, the AKS-74u is to the AK-74M as the M4A1 is to the M16A3.

Trivia

 * The AKS-74u is one of only three infantry weapons to appear in every modern-era Battlefield game. (BF2, BF2:MC, BFBC, BFBC2, BFP4F, and BF3.) The others are the M9, and the M249 SAW.
 * It shares its bolt pulling animation with the AK-74M, M39 EMR, SVD, AS Val, PP-19, QBU-88, and SKS.Game?
 * The AKS-74U, along with the G53, are the only two class-specific non-bullpup weapons that can't equip the bipod.