Firearm a battle rifle such as the Karabiner 98k, but the chief differences defining an assault rifle are select-fire capability and the use of a rifle round of lesser power, known as an intermediate cartridge. Soviet engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov quickly adapted the German concept, using a less-powerful 7.62×39mm cartridge derived from the standard 7.62×54mmR Russian battle rifle round, to produce the AK-47, which has become the world's most widely used assault rifle. Soon after World War II, the Automatic Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle began to be fielded by the Soviet Union and its allies in the Eastern Bloc, as well as
Type 81 assault rifle Type 81 assault rifle The Type 81 () is a Chinese-designed Kalashnikov and SKS based, second-generation, selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle adopted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) since the mid-1980s. The weapon was introduced into PLA service in 1981 but did not become widely distributed until the late 1980s. It replaced the SKS and the Type 56 rifle (a Chinese license produced AK-47). Its first combat use came during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflicts of the mid-1980s. The PLA has replaced most of its Type-81s with the Type 95 or Type 03 series of weapons, though it is still