Quote:
Originally Posted by MT2008
Neither the Type 56 nor the Type 84 was being imported to the U.S. at the time that MASH was on the air. The Valmets, on the other hand, started coming to this country in the late-70s, so they would've been available.
That's how the Chinese used AKs for most of the 1960s, too - they classified their AKs as the Type 56 submachine gun, which implies it was meant to be issued only to squad leaders. Their SKS copy was called the Type 56 carbine, and was the standard-issue to most PLA soldiers.
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The idea that semi-automatic rifles would suffice for most soldiers and that only certain troops would use Kalashnikov rifles persisted in China until the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. The fact that the Kalashnikov-equipped Vietnamese outgunned the PLA in many engagements forced the Chinese to revise their doctrines and remove their Type 56 carbines from frontline service; it also initiated the development of the Type 81 rifle as a replacement.