Yet they didn't field their own assault rifle until post-war. Remember the Soviets captured the prototype/pre-production test models used for combat trials as early as 1943, so were fully aware of the potential of the intermediate round and assault rifle before any mass adoption of the StG44 was possible with the historic time line. The RPD came about before the end of the war, but in too small of numbers to matter. The Soviets wouldn't have been able to adopt an assault rifle in the course of the war due to manufacturing constraints and design issues despite having the 7.62x39 round, cribbed in concept from the 7.92 kurz, since 1943-44 they didn't develop the AK-47 until 1947 and the SKS wasn't adopted until 1949. So it could have really been available for mass adoption in late summer 1943 had Hitler accepted the weapon rather than waiting until the last 10 months or so of the war to accept it. Just found this thread and have an answer for you: Hitler historically slowed down adoption of the StG44 by 12 month at a minimum: Again, the allies would have just responded by developing their own similar weapon system. that could have also significantly effected the war's outcome. With slowed, static front, perhaps it would have given the Germans more time to develop their other 'wonder weapons' such as the helicopter, more effective ballistic missile systems, or even nuclear weapons, etc. I would guess large scale deployment of automatic rifles may have turned the Eastern Front static, on the basis (again) that the Soviets would quickly just captured, replicated and mass deployed then as well. If it was in 1942 or early 1943, I would guess that the Soviets would have had to fight much harder to regain territory.

If that was the case, then the real question is how would the outcome of the Eastern Front be different if both armies used assault rifles on a large scale?ДЄnother variable to consider is how much earlier would this weapon end up being introduced to the front in this alternative historical timeline? Any advantages offered by the STG 44 would be short lived and would require quick exploitation. My position is that the Soviets would have quickly developed their own assault rifle, especially if they realized that the STG 44's the Germans were using were beginning to slow entire fronts.ДЄll that would be required to produce their own was to capture an STG 44, either left behind on the field or handed over by a surrendering soldier, and reverse engineer it. If Hitler sped up the development of the STG 44 assault rifle, so it's final version was introduced to the battlefield earlier than 1944, could it have affected the outcome of the Eastern Front? If so, how?

Stg 44 iron sights