The RPD (Russian: ручной пулемёт Дегтярёва Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, English: Degtyaryov hand-held machine gun) is a 7.62mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union by Vasily Degtyaryov for the intermediate 7.62x39mm M43 cartridge. It was created as a replacement for the DP machine gun chambered for the 7.62×54mmR round. It is a precursor of most squad automatic weapons. It was succeeded in Soviet service by the RPK.