AK-74 be used by the majority of countries of the former Soviet Union. Additionally, licensed copies were produced in Bulgaria (AK-74, AKS-74 and AKS-74U), and the former East Germany (MPi-AK-74N, MPi-AKS-74N, MPi-AKS-74NK). Besides former Soviet republics and eastern European countries, Mongolia, North Korean Special Forces, and Vietnamese People's Naval infantry use AK-74s. The AK-74 was designed by А. D. Kryakushin's group under the design supervision of Mikhail Kalashnikov and is an adaptation of the 7.62×39mm AKM assault rifle and features several important design improvements. These improvements were primarily the result of converting the rifle to the intermediate-caliber high velocity 5.45×39mm cartridge.
Automatic rifle well as an entire line of weapons built on the same system, one of the most famous being the MP5 SMG. The first confrontations between the AK-47 and the M14 (assault rifle vs battle rifle) came in the early part of the Vietnam War. Battlefield reports indicated that the M14 was uncontrollable in automatic mode and that soldiers could not carry enough ammo to maintain fire superiority over the AK-47. A replacement was needed: A medium between the traditional preference for high-powered rifles such as the M14, and the lightweight firepower of the M2 Carbine. As a result, the Army