Strategy Page posted a long form article on the development and status of Dmitry Lebedev's PL-14/15 series handgun by the Kalashnikov Concern. The PL-14 was the original Lebedev design with a steel frame and the polymer frame PL-15 is the production intent design:

https://www.strategypage.com//htmw/h.../20190729.aspx

Weapons: The Land Of Broken Dreams
July 29, 2019


After five years of effort, Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov is ready to begin production of a much-needed replacement for Cold War era army and police 9mm pistols. The older pistols were obsolete when the Cold War ended in 1991. The new PL-15 pistol was designed by Russians who had been creating modern pistols for commercial and competitive target shooting customers. In addition the PL-15 was the first pistol developed and manufactured by the Kalashnikov company. Development was paid for by Kalashnikov with the assurance that if it was all it was supposed to be the government would order large quantities for the military and national police. That, apparently, is not going to happen.

There may be some orders but now Kalashnikov has to accept the fact that the PL-15 is another victim of low oil prices and economic sanctions that have crippled the economy since 2014. The defense budget has shrunk and procurement of less essential items, like a new pistol, have gone from threatened to nothing in five years. The official government position was that the economy was going to turn around but it hasn’t Kalashnikov will have to depend on orders from export customers and patriotic Russians seeking to possess what is likely to quickly become a collectible.

This all began in early 2014 when, at the urging of the government, Kalashnikov began working hard to perfect its version of a modern 9mm pistol. Within a year they had prototypes of the PL-14. This pistol demonstrates that Kalashnikov could provide a quality Russian made pistol to replace more than a million older (1950s and 1970s) designs that are still in wide use by military and police personnel. This was a welcome effort because Russia has never been able to produce a pistol that met military or police needs as well that pistols created in the West.

The PL-14 was a 9x19mm weapon that weighed .8kg (1.76 pounds) empty, had a 127mm (5 inch) barrel and a 15 round magazine. Kalashnikov likes to build modern weapons that can survive a lot of abuse and still function. The AK-47 is the best-known example of this attitude. Thus in addition to having many of the innovations pioneered by Western designers, Kalashnikov built a pistol that could better withstand not being cleaned frequently and often using poorly made ammo. That helped sell the AK-47 to export customers and many of these budget-minded buyers are still out there looking for ruggedness, reliability and low price. The PL-14 was meant to supply that along with modern touches like a standard accessories rail under the barrel to appeal to upscale users who can afford expensive accessories. There were some criticisms from the many Russian police, military officers and commandos have been buying foreign 9mm pistols since the 1990s. Glocks have been a big favorite but these orders were small and considered “special equipment” for special operations soldiers and police units and quantities (hundreds of pistols) were not large. Pistols for senior military officers were often paid for by the user as a luxury accessory. Meanwhile over a million soldiers and police were still carrying (and many were rarely using) pistols that were also sought by antique weapons collectors. The few troops and police who had obtained and used Western pistols had used the Internet to share their opinions with soldiers and police still using antique pistols.

The PL-14 was originally designed using suggestions from police and army veterans and special operations troops. Still, it was not ready for mass production and suggested changes were so extensive that by late 2015 the pistol got a new name, the PL-15. This is the PL-14 with modifications made based on feedback from hundreds of PL-14 users who received an initial production run of the PL-14 for field testing by soldiers and police. The PL-15 was available in lighter (aluminum or polymer) frames, had ambidextrous controls and an adjustable firing mechanism. Many changes were obviously to attract Russian customers who have tried Glocks and other Western models but would buy Russian if the pistol were competitive on looks and performance. The PL-15 looked promising but the late government orders were delayed so Kalashnikov decided to continue the field testing and tweaking program for a few years until the large government orders were placed. Preparing for mass production would be expensive and while Kalashnikov was profitable, their profit margins were shrinking because to the declining government orders. Exports were keeping the company solvent even though the development of the new pistol had been paid for by Kalashnikov, not the government. Kalashnikov expected to know the extent of government orders by 2018 but the word was that, at best, the government was only able to provide the smaller orders that had been going to Western manufacturers for modern pistols. Since 2015 the value (in Western currencies) of the Russian ruble had sharply declined and Western imports became a lot more expensive and the government shifted to Russian products as much as possible. So there would be some orders for the PL-15, just not enough for mass production and the higher profits that would mean for Kalashnikov.

Meanwhile, most police and military users of pistols would have to make do with their infrequently used antiques. Since the 1950s the most common pistols used by the Russian military, and many police, has been the Makarov PM followed in 2003 by a small quantity of the unpopular MP-443 design. Neither were competitive with Western designs. The MP-443 itself was meant to replace the Makarov PM, however, lack of money in the defense budget, plus lack of user enthusiasm, meant few were bought and many Russian troops are still using the 1950's era Makarov PM.

The MP-443 used the world standard 9x19 pistol round, including the locally produced, hot loaded 7N21 armor-piercing round. MP-443 is 0.59 kg (1.30 pounds) empty, 184mm (7.2 inch) long pistol with a 112mm (4.4 inch) barrel and a 17 round magazine. While it's a relatively modern weapon, it is not as easy to handle as Western 9mm pistols and had a shorter (112mm) barrel than most Western 9mm designs. It was not popular with Russian users who knew about the Western competition. The PL-15 was considered a “Western” design coming from a respected Russian firm. Kalashnikov had customer acceptance but not the expected big orders.

In 1951 the Makarov PM was introduced to replace all the 7.62mm pistols used during and before World War II......
Lots more at the hyperlink, above.

Not mentioned in the Strategy Page article is the Lebedev's competitor in the Russian pistol trials, the TsNIItochmash CP-2 Udav (Boa) pistol. This polymer framed pistol was developed by the Russian military production conglomerate Rostec and is chambered for a high performance 9x21mm cartridge. Russia Beyond posted a topical article six months ago focusing on the Udav, but with a section on the Lebedev PL-15 as well:

https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tec...place-makarov-

The Udav pistol could replace the Makarov in service with the Russian army
January 28, 2019

The new Udav pistol can pierce a 4-mm steel armored plate from a distance of 50 meters and will go head to head with the Kalashnikov PL-15 for the right to become the Russian army’s new basic weapon.


Russian industrial design bureau TsNIItochmash has unveiled to the country and the world its new model of the CP-2 Udav (Boa) pistol, which could be set to replace the Soviet-era Makarov pistol in the hands of Russian police and soldiers.

The new gun is designed for a more powerful 9x21mm cartridge, which should give it an edge over existing models, such as the Makarov and Yarygin pistols. In terms of ammunition, the Udav also outguns the Yarigin and Makarov with its greater power and armor-piercing bullets.

The standard armor-piercing ammunition used with the Udav has the capacity to pierce a 4mm steel armored plate from a distance of 50 meters. When fired with a silencer, subsonic ammunition is used, which has a far higher penetrating power than standard bullets.

It should be noted that the Udav is currently under development and classified as “secret,” for which reason we will discuss only information released by the manufacturer before the completion of state trials (testing of the new gun will wrap up in March 2019, whereupon it will be decided whether to adopt the weapon for service).

Construction

The gun is built with a classic T-shaped frame, including a handle and sliding breechblock case. The designers made extensive use of polymers in the gun’s operation, in particular as regards the handle and frame. Only the case, breechblock and magazine are completely metal.

The designers have not disclosed the type of automatic pistol. According to media reports, the system deploys a swinging barrel, in which locking occurs through interaction between the barrel flanges and the cartridge-case discharge slot.

The pistol has a revolver-type double action trigger that protrudes from the weapon, and an 18-round magazine for 9x21mm caliber ammunition. Its controls are one-sided, intended for a right-handed shooter (its main competitor, the Kalashnikov PL-15, is double-sided).

Another feature is that the silencer for the new pistol was manufactured on a 3D printer, and the lower part of the pistol houses slats for tactical accessories, such as a flashlight and laser target designators.

The Udav has a slightly greater mass than the Makarov (730 vs. 780 grams), but the recoil force is the same.

The pistol’s more precise performance characteristics are classified and will be announced at the end of state trials, when the Russian Ministry of Defense is set to commission a new weapon to replace the Makarov.

Main competitor

In recent years, the Kalashnikov Concern has perfected its latest model, the PL-15 pistol, unveiling a “compact” version in October 2018.

A nice feature of the new PL-15K that eclipses the outdated Makarov is the very user-friendly control levers that fit snugly in the shooter’s fingers. The magazine removal button and slide stop are so conveniently positioned that no hand adjustments or eye-poppingly strong finger pressure on the mechanism (like in the case of the Makarov) are required. Everything is compact and effortless.

What’s more, the designers made the trigger very easy to operate. It comes in two versions—with short or long recoil operation.

The former is for specialists who work with weapons all day long. The latter option with long recoil operation was created for lesser trained shooters, allowing them to hit the precise target as originally conceived. At the same time, the trigger is fitted with a mechanism to prevent unintentional discharge in stressful situations, when adrenaline and muscle tension could cause the shooter to accidentally shoot himself in the leg or a passerby......
Russia Beyond is obviously not a firearms journal, but you can read between the lines to figure out what is going on in Russian handgun design.

It is unlikely we will see these pistols exported to the United States given the current anti-Russian hysteria, but Russian arms designers are quite capable and there are likely to be influences from their work in future pistol designs.