The PP-19 Bizon (Cyrillic: Пистолет Пулемет Бизон, Pistolet Pulemyot Bizon, meaning bison) is a 9x18mm Makarov submachine gun developed in 1993 by the Russian company Izhmash, designed by a team of engineers headed by Victor Kalashnikov (son of engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of the AK-47). Alexei Dragunov, youngest son of Yevgeny Dragunov (the creator of the SVD sniper rifle), was also a member of the design team. The Bizon was developed at the request of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and is primarily intended for counter-terrorist and law enforcement units that need fast and accurate fire at close ranges. Prototypes were trialed by the Special Equipment Research Institute in 1995 where they outperformed several competitors, and the weapon was accepted into service on 28 December 1996. The Bizon is issued to armed response units of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Ministry of Justice in Russia. It was used in combat operations against separatists in the North Caucasus region, namely Chechnya and Dagestan. The Bizon has been largely replaced by the PP-19-01 Vityaz in Russian service, which was developed directly from the design of the Bizon, due to reliability issues with the Helical magazine.