Dragunov sniper rifle
The Dragunov sniper rifle (formal , "Snáyperskaya Vintóvka sistém'y Dragunóva obraz'tsá 1963 goda" (SVD-63), officially "Sniper Rifle, System of Dragunov, Model of the Year 1963") (GRAU index 6V1 (ГРАУ Индекс 6В1)) is a semi-automatic designated marksman rifle chambered in 7.62×54mmR and developed in the Soviet Union.

The Dragunov was designed as a squad support weapon since, according to Soviet and Soviet-derived military doctrines, long-range engagement ability was lost to ordinary troops when submachine guns and assault rifles (which are optimized for close-range and medium-range, rapid-fire combat) were adopted.

It was developed in 1957–1963 and selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing groups of designers, led by Sergei Simonov, Aleksandr Konstantinov and Yevgeny Dragunov. Extensive field testing of the rifles conducted in a wide range of environmental conditions resulted in Dragunov's proposal being accepted into service in July 1963. An initial pre-production batch consisting of 200 rifles was assembled for evaluation purposes, and from 1964 serial production was carried out by Izhmash, later called Kalashnikov Concern.

Since then, the Dragunov has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact. China produced an unlicensed copy of the SVD through reverse-engineered samples captured during the Sino-Vietnamese War as the Type 79 and 85. Iran also produced a clone, the Nakhjir 3, which was a direct copy of the Chinese Type 79.
Q431942
GRAU
ORG
Q2291248
semi-automatic
Concept
Q15055203
designated marksman rifle
Concept
Q259199
7.62×54mmR
Concept
Q15180
Soviet Union
LOC
Q207063
squad
Concept
Q920248
Soviet and Soviet-derived military doctrines
UNK
Q178550
submachine guns
Concept
Q177456
assault rifles
Concept
Q1333962
Sergei Simonov
PER
Q505988
Yevgeny Dragunov
PER
Q7427495
Kalashnikov Concern
ORG
Q41644
Warsaw Pact
ORG
Q269608
reverse-engineered
Concept
Q623171
Sino-Vietnamese War
EVE
Q794
Iran
LOC
Q159509
Dragunov sniper rifle
Concept
1963-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1963
DATE
1963-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1963
DATE
1957-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1957
DATE
1963-07-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
July 1963
DATE
1964-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1964
DATE
-63^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-63
NUMBER
+6^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
6
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+6^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
6
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+7.62^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
7.62
NUMBER
+54^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
54
NUMBER
+1963^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1963
NUMBER
+79^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
79
NUMBER
+85^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
85
NUMBER
+3^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
3
NUMBER
+79^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
79
NUMBER
subclass of
ammunition
country of origin
service entry
service entry
designed by
manufacturer
country