The AEK-971 is a Russian-made prototype assault rifle designed by Sergey I. Koksharov in the 1970s at the Kovrov Machinebuilding Plant in Kovrov, Russia. The rifle was designed for the Russian Army's "Abakan" test trial in the 1980s to replace the AK-74 with a more accurate and modernized assault rifle. Despite failing the Army's trial, it went on to be produced for Russian police forces and for export.

In Battlefield 3, the AEK-971 is a rifle issued to the Assault kit. It has somewhat changed in appearance compared to its counterpart in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield Play4Free, it now has a folding wire stock and a different handguard. It has a high rate of fire with open sights and moderate recoil. It is the fourth Assault kit unlock. The reload animation of the AEK-971 is nearly, if not exactly, identical to the AN-94 in the same game, with the player hitting the magazine release with the new magazine.
It has three firing modes; semi-automatic, a burst function and fully automatic. The weapon's very high rate of fire makes it deadly at close range. However, the resulting recoil, which is hard to predict, can easily knock off the player's aim at longer ranges to the extent that using the burst fire or semi auto mode is recommended at longer range. The high rate of fire also empties the magazine very quickly, even on single targets, so using the AMMO specialization is recommended. By using optics such as the PK-A in conjunction with attachments such as the Foregrip, one can easily reduce the recoil of the weapon, however it is still prevelant, especially when fighting at medium to longer ranges. The AEK-971 also supports Underslung Rail which can be used to attach the M320 grenade launcher but not the M26 MASS shotgun to the rifle. However the M26 MASS can still be used as a standalone weapon.