Russian military pilots were armed with PLC pistols

The crews of combat helicopters and pilots of attack aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are equipped with compact Lebedev PLC pistols as personal small arms.

This was told to Izvestia by the designer and developer of this pistol Dmitry Lebedev. It is noted that this pistol is now actively replacing the famous "makarovs" (PM) in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Rosgvardiya.

"Dmitry Lebedev noted that helicopter pilots and attack aircraft pilots are already receiving PLC. According to him, this is the gun that is worn on the body and in case of ejection, it will be the last means of protection," the agency writes.

The developer assures that his gun allows the owner to protect himself even if it is possible to act with only one hand.

PLC is the first example of a compact short-barreled weapon chambered for 9x19 millimeters in Russia. At the same time, it allows the use of high-pulse armor-piercing ammunition 7H21.

The total length of the PLC is 185 millimeters. A pistol with a magazine without cartridges weighs 740 grams. The magazine itself holds 14 rounds.

By now, a whole line of Lebedev pistols has already been released. Among other things, there are already modular MPL and MPL1 pistols in it. The designer himself said that he plans to upgrade the weapon taking into account the experience of SMO.

As EADaily reported, Lebedev's compact pistol (PLC) was first presented by Rosoboronexport at an exhibition in Minsk in May 2025