page_title: Type 56 assault rifle
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: Type 56 assault rifle / Service history
caption_attribution_description: English: Chinese Type 56-2 export model, Finnish designation 7.62 mm assault rifle model 56 with side-folding stock. Photographed in Mikkeli Infantry museum. Suomi: Kiinalainen Type 56-2 vientiversio, Suomalainen nimike 7,62 rynnäkkökivääri 56 taittoperällä. Kuvattu Jalkaväkimuseossa.
context_page_description: The Type 56 is a Chinese 7.62×39mm rifle. It is a variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 and AKM rifles. Production started in 1956 at State Factory 66 but was eventually handed over to Norinco and PolyTech, who continue to manufacture the rifle primarily for export.
context_section_description: During the Cold War period, the Type-56 was exported to many countries and guerrilla forces throughout the world. Many of these rifles found their way to battlefields in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and were used alongside other Kalashnikov pattern weapons from both the Soviet Union as well the Warsaw Pact nations of Eastern Europe.
  Chinese support for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam before the mid-1960s meant that the Type-56 was frequently encountered by American soldiers in the hands of either Vietcong guerrillas or PAVN soldiers during the Vietnam war. The Type-56 was discovered far more often than the original Russian-made AK-47s or AKMs.
  When relations between China and North Vietnam crumbled in the 1970s and the Sino-Vietnamese War began, the Vietnamese government still possessed vast quantities of Type-56 rifles in its inventory. The People's Liberation Army still used the Type 56 as its standard weapon during this time as well. Thus, Chinese and Vietnamese forces fought each other using the same rifle.
  The Type 56 was used extensively by Iranian forces during the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, with Iran purchasing large quantities of weapons from China for its armed forces. During the war, Iraq also purchased a small quantity, despite them being a major recipient of Soviet weapons and assistance during the conflict. This was done in conjunction with their purchasing of a large number of AKMs from Eastern Europe. Consequently, the Iran–Iraq War became another conflict in which both sides utilized the Type 56.
  Since the end of the Cold War, the Type-56 has been used in many conflicts by various military forces. During the Croatian War of Independence and the Yugoslav Wars, it was used by the armed forces of Croatia. During the late 1990s, the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo were also major users of the Type 56, with the vast majority of the weapons originating from People's Socialist Republic of Albania, which received Chinese support during much of the Cold War.
  In the United Kingdom and United States, the Type-56 and its derivatives are frequently used in the filming of movies and television shows, standing in for Russian-made AK-47s due to their rarity among Kalashnikov style weapons. Type-56s are oftentimes visually modified to resemble other AK variants. In addition, versions of the Type-56 that have had their select fire ability removed (referred to as "sporter" rifles) are also available for civilian ownership in most parts of the United States.
  In the mid-1980s, Sri Lanka began to replace their British L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) and German HK G3s with the Type 56-2. Currently, the side-folding stock variant (Type 56-2) issued as the standard primary firearm.
  The Type 81, Type 95 and Type 03 replaced the Type 56 in PLA front line service, but the Type 56 remains in use with reserve and militia units. Type 56s are still in production by Norinco for export customers.
  During the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s, many Chinese Type 56 rifles were supplied to Afghan Mujahideen guerrillas to fight Soviet forces. The rifles were supplied by China, Pakistan and the US who obtained them from third party arms dealers. There is photographic evidence from Soviet/Russian sources where captured Chinese Type 56 rifles were utilized by Soviet Army soldiers in Afghanistan in lieu with their standard-issue Soviet AKM and AK-74 rifles.
  Use of the Type 56 in Afghanistan also continued well into the early 21st century as the standard rifle of the Taliban. When Taliban forces seized control of Kabul in 1996 (a majority of the Chinese small arms used by the Taliban were provided by Pakistan).
  Since the overthrow of the Taliban by U.S.-led Coalition forces in late 2001, the Type-56 assault rifle has been utilized by the Afghan National Army, with serving alongside many other AK-47 and AKM variant rifles.
  The Type-56 has been regularly seen in the hands of militants from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas in the Palestinian territories.
  The Type-56 has been used by the Janjaweed in the Darfur
caption: A Type 56-2 rifle with stock folded.
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