The Chinese military personnel were utterly astonished upon beholding a mysterious Soviet machine gun. This information was shared by reporters from the Sohu publication. In the late 1970s, following a border clash with Vietnam, a machine gun bearing Russian inscriptions fell into the hands of the Chinese armed forces, completely reshaping the perception of small arms among PRC specialists.
“Seasoned experts with years of experience were left speechless,” asserts the writing from the Chinese media outlet.
According to the journalists, the weapon in question was a modernized Kalashnikov machine gun (PKM), notably lighter than the Chinese Type 67 and featuring an innovative receiver constructed from a thin steel plate. Chinese engineers were deeply impressed by the design, basing their own version—the Type 80—upon it.
This new model surpassed the Type 67, yet it did not enter mass production due to the substantial expense involved in retooling the assembly lines.
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