Origins
The AK-47 design work was completed shortly after World War II, as can be seen by the origin of its model number (47 representing the year in which its design was adopted and given its current designation) and was in service in the Soviet army from the early 1950s, the beginning of the Cold War period. The design was influenced by contemporary and previous weapons like the FG-42, the MP-44 (later renamed Stgw-44) and early Russian attempts to build a lighter, automatic rifle based around the Japanese 6.5 mm Arisaka round, such as the AVS-36 Simonov and the early 1916 Avtomat by Fedorov. The AK-47 was adopted as the standard issue infantry weapon of the Soviet army due to its firepower, ease of use, low production costs, and reliability, which fit the Soviet doctrine of Operational Art as well as being suited for the new mobile warfare doctrines.
The AK-47 was widely supplied or sold to nations allied with the USSR and the blueprints were shared with several friendly nations (the People's Republic of China standing out among these).
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