 Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the weapon that had functioned as the heavy machine gun was the NSV, or "Utes" or "Utjos" ("утёс", meaning "one lonely cliff" in Russian, this name was its designation during development) machine gun.The main production centre for the NSV was located in what is now Kazakhstan.The Russian Degtyarev bureau was given the job of producing an updated version of the weapon chambered in the 12.7×108mm cartridge, which could be used for support, mounted on vehicles or in an anti-aircraft capacity.