The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the USSR by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova (Автомат Калашникова). It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.

Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year of World War II (1945). After the war in 1946, the AK-46 was presented for official military trials. In 1947 the fixed-stock version was introduced into service with select units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (S—Skladnoy or "folding"), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

The original AK-47 was one of the first true "assault rifles" to be manufactured, after the original Sturmgewehr 44. Even after six decades the model and its variants remain the most widely used and popular assault rifles in the world because of their durability, low production cost, and ease of use. It has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces worldwide. The AK-47 was the basis for developing many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. More AK-type rifles have been produced than all other assault rifles combined.

Lieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (Russian: Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, Mihail Timofejevič Kalašnikov) (born 10 November 1919) is a Russian small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.

Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 in Kurya, Altai Krai, Russia, one of nineteen children to Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov (1883-1930) and Aleksandra Frolovna Kalashnikova (1884-1987). Timofey Kalashnikov was deported when Mikhail was still a boy. In his youth, Kalashnikov wrote poetry, and his dream was to become a poet. He went on to write six books and has continued to write poetry all his life.

In 1938, Kalashnikov was conscripted into the Red Army, and became a tank driver and mechanic, achieving the rank of senior sergeant tank commander serving on the T-34s of the 24th Tank Regiment, 12th Tank Division stationed in Stryi before the regiment retreated after the Battle of Brody in June 1941. He was wounded in combat during the Battle of Bryansk in October 1941, and got released for six months recuperation due to illness. While in the hospital, he overheard some fellow soldiers complaining about the Soviet rifles of the time.