The Next Iconic Rifle

Even though AK74M will be there for at least another 10 years in Russian army, we should see more and more troops equipped with new types of weapons in near future.

AK-12, with NATO like rails

The most possible winner, in my opinion, would be the AK-12, it's not about performance though, but more about cost-effectiveness. Just like how AK74M won among all awesome rivals above, AK12 being its successor, descendent of the AK family, would be most likely to stand out.

The next possible winner would be AEK-971/AK-107, as they're both all round rifles and are accurate at full auto / long burst with little recoil.

The AN-94, though with amazing short burst ability, would have a hard time to win, just like it did in Project Abakan. And its short burst ability isn't much needed in todays conflicts, as with the DMR's role becoming more and more important, assault rifles would have to depend more on long burst and full auto.

But still in BF3, AN-94 owns.