Russia's Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47, dies: reports

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of fabled AK-47 automatic rifle, has died, Russian media reported today, citing the office of the presidency in the Udmurtia region where he worked. He was 94.

Kalashnikov designed a weapon that became synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a national hero and symbol of Moscow's proud military past.