Kolf Degtyarev's Handheld Machine Gun (Butt Degtyarev's Handheld Machine Gun)

RPD stands for Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyareva (Degtyarev's Handheld Machine Gun). Initially developed in the late stages of WWII, it was briefly adopted by Soviet armed forces as a light machine gun in the late 50s and early 60s, later replaced by RPK magazine-fed LMG and, more significantly, the highly successful PKM belt-fed GPMG.