The Shevchenko Smerch (means tornado in Russian) was a prototype bullpup assault rifle designed by Russian engineer A.V. Shevchenko. Designed in the late 1970's, the Shevchenko Smerch was the work of Sergeant Shevchenko of the Russian military. It was chambered for 5.45x39mm ammunition and had the same barrel length as the AK-74 (the weapon it was based off), while having a much shorter overall length. A prototype model was produced, but Shevchenko had no factories to mass-produce the weapon. He contacted Tula Arms Plant to get the weapon produced, but they rejected his proposal because they did not have room to produce anything new. By the 1980s, the Russian army had already adopted the short-barreled AKS-74U, so Shevchenko's weapon was no longer required and was not adopted by any milita