Type 87 assault rifle

The Type 87 is a Chinese-designed, selective-fire, gas-operated assault rifle. The People's Liberation Army wanted to replace the Type 56 assault rifle and carbine after the failed adoption of the Type 63, and the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War sharpened the need for a modernised service rifle, which produced the Type 81. The Type 81 was then redesigned into the Type 87, finalized in 1987 as a development platform for the next generation of Chinese small arms. It differs from the Type 81 mainly in its plastic furniture and L-shaped folding stock. Its main role was as a test-bed for the 5.8mm DBP87 cartridge, later the standard rifle round of the QBZ-95, QBZ-03 and QBZ-191. It could take DQJ03, DQP-1 and DQD-1 rifle grenades and came with the Type 87 bayonet, the first knife bayonet in army service. Variants include the Type 87A prototype, a 1989 facelift called Project 8910 that reached limited production for special forces, and the Type 87 light machine gun prototype. The rifle never went into full-scale production but remains in army service in limited numbers.