"The interdepartmental commission, which decides whether to assign O1 letters [serial production permit] to the model, will complete its work in March, after which it is planned to organize a serial production," the source said.
It is currently being decided on which production site the new pistol will be manufactured, he noted.
"Three different production sites are being considered — Vyatskiye Polyany, Kalashnikov, and TsNIItochmash. The main applicants are Moscow and Izhevsk, but the main technologies and competencies necessary for the production of the pistol are from TsNIItochmash, everyone understands this," the source said.
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The new pistol is designed to replace the PM, which is now the most popular in the Russian army. Apart from PM, Stechkin pistol with a 9×21 millimetres cartridge is also widely used. Basically, it is used by special forces units.