208 Research Institute SMG

     Notes: The PLA is currently conducting a competition for a new submachinegun/personal defense weapon to be issued across the board from rear area troops to certain special operations forces.  One of the competitors was in the competition for so short a time that it never had an official name, but is normally called simply the “208,” for the company that designed it, the 208 Research Institute.  The 208 is mostly a conventional-design SMG (in fact, it looks vaguely like an MP-5, and the external design was in fact influenced by the German SMG; it can even use steel MP-5 magazines).  The guts of the 208 are, however, very different from the MP-5; it uses a telescoping bolt, blowback operation, and fires from an open bolt. The upper receiver is of stamped steel, while the lower receiver and collapsing stock are of aluminum alloy (virtually identical to the metal used in the AR-15/M-16 series’ lower receiver).  Handguard, pistol grip, and the buttstock insert are of light-but-strong polymer.  The charging handle is on top of the receiver (below the sight line of the front and rear sights), and if the 208 jams it may be rotated 90 degrees (locking it to the bolt) and used as a forward assist.  Though the sights are not of unusual design (they are a simple hooded front post and an aperture rear); they are made of an unusual material: titanium alloy.  The rear sight is removable and mounted on a short optics mounting rail.  The selector lever is also unusual; in addition to conventional safe, semiautomatic, 3-round burst, and automatic settings, it also slides out, allowing the weapon to be broken open for cleaning in the same manner as an AR-15/M-16-series weapon.  (This strikes me as slightly dangerous, but anyway…)  A variety of accessories were designed for the 208, ranging from non-magnifying holographic reflex sights to laser pointers to a lightweight silencer.

     Unfortunately, the 208 was dropped from the competition very early in the process; most sources cite the exotic construction materials and that unusual selector lever/breakdown pin.  The 208 Research Institute tried to market the weapon elsewhere, but found no buyers.  It remains an interesting “what-if” weapon.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: There is some limited use of the 208 (known in the Merc 2000 timeline as the Type 08 submachinegun) by a couple of Chinese warlords’ forces, but the primary users of the 208 are the troops of the Myanmar Army. 

Chang Feng SMG

     Notes: Another competitor for China’s new SMG/PDW, the Chang Feng is another unusual design that is now more likely to see domestic and foreign sales due to a new simplified design (more on the earlier versions later).  The Chang Feng SMG has no official designation as of yet; Chang Feng is the name of the company in China that makes it.  Chang Feng has another possible leg up in that the designer of this weapon is Qing Shangsheng, the man who designed many of the innovative new small arms now entering PLA and Chinese Police service.  The Chang Feng SMG has a housing made almost entirely of strong, lightweight polymer, as are the forward and rear grips, trigger housing, and even the magazines.  The magazines are particularly unusual; they use the rare helical-feed format, mounted on top of the weapon just below the sight line, and are translucent to allow the shooter to see how much ammunition he has.  The charging handle is normally on the left side of the weapon, but may be moved to the right side; controls are ambidextrous and derived from those of QSZ-92 pistol (as is the rear pistol grip).  The barrel is tipped with a compact muzzle brake that is, though not as effective as a full-sized muzzle brake, dampens recoil better than a simple flash suppressor.  A weak point of the Chang Feng SMG is its almost total inability to mount optics or accessories; the top-mounted helical magazine makes such mounting virtually impossible on top of the weapon, and the area of the SMG’s housing in front of the forward grip is quite short.  The Chang Feng SMG can, however, easily mount a screw-on silencer.

     The PLA passed on the Chang Feng design, but this may be because the Chang Feng SMG was, at the time of testing by the PLA, a very different and more complicated weapon.  In addition to the top-mounted helical feed magazine, the initial Chang Feng SMG submission had a second magazine feed in the rear pistol grip for use with special ammunition, and an additional switch in order to allow the use of this second feed.  The secondary magazine used is the same as that of the QSZ-92 pistol.  It was an interesting idea, but led to a quite complicated design that in test proved to be somewhat unreliable.  In addition, the initial submissions of the Chang Feng SMG included a version chambered for the new 5.8mm Chinese Pistol cartridge, a round that the PLA eventually rejected as well.  I have included statistics for these versions below, as sort of a “what-if.”

     Though the PLA rejected the Chang Feng SMG, the Chinese Police are reportedly very interested in the new version of the design, especially for its SRT-type units and for the units that operate in Hong Kong, where its very light and compact design would prove to be advantageous.  Rumors also say that the Chang Feng SMG is starting to be shopped around to the international market, and it may even have been demonstrated in Pakistan, Iran, and some countries in Southeast Asia (though this is unconfirmed).

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Chang Feng SMG does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: Though innovative, the Chang Feng SMG is also complicated to make and requires exotic polymers, and by 2007 production had stopped in favor of simpler, less complicated, and more marketable weapons.

Type 05/Jian She PDW

     Notes: These two variants of the same PDW/SMG seem to be the winners of the competition for the new PLA PDW/SMG.  The Type 05 version is already in production and is starting to be issued to the PLA; the Jian She PDW (which has as of yet no official Chinese designation) is geared more towards law enforcement and will probably begin production in the near future for Chinese Police forces.  Both are also being shopped around on the international market, and several countries have shown interest, particularly in the Jian She PDW.  Both are basically modified versions of the QBZ-95 assault rifle series, and have polymer lower receivers, buttstock shells, pistols grips, and trigger guards; the upper receiver is of forged aircraft aluminum. 

     The Type 05 uses a somewhat longer barrel, and has an ambidextrous charging handle inside the carrying handle (though, being a bullpup design with an ejection port fairly well back on the weapon, it cannot really be used ambidextrously).  Instead of the QBZ-95 series’ gas-operated closed-bolt firing, the Type 05 uses simple blowback operation and fires from an open bolt; in addition, the bolt is telescoping to shorten the overall length of the weapon.  The magazines are made specifically for the Type 05; they are a four-column design reminiscent of the Finnish Jati SMG (though an independent design).  The Type 05 has two primary safeties; one is a selector lever setting, and the other is grip safety on the pistol grip.  The upper receiver is topped with the carrying handle common to most of the QBZ-95 series; this carrying handle also has the rear sight and a mounting rail for Chinese and Eastern-type optics and accessories.  The barrel has no flash suppressor or muzzle brake, but is threaded for a silencer, as it is also intended to replace the Type 85 silenced SMG.

     The Jian She PDW (Jian She is the design firm) is almost identical to the Type 05, with a minimum of modifications to better suit it to the 9mm Parabellum ammunition it fires and the law enforcement role for which it is intended (and make it more attractive to the international market).  The top of the receiver is fitted with full-length modified MIL-STD-1913 rail, able to mount virtually any sort of optic or accessory produced in the world today.  Because of this rail, the charging handle has been moved to the right side of the weapon.  The Jian She PDW is fed by 30-round steel magazines of Chinese manufacture, but it can also use MP-5 magazines.  The front of the large trigger guard has been widened into a mini-foregrip.  Like the Type 05, the barrel is threaded to accept a silencer, but the silencer for the Jian She PDW can also provide decent noise suppression with standard-velocity 9mm Parabellum rounds (though they won’t be as quiet as subsonic rounds), and without undue wear on the silencer.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These PDWs do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: Like many newer Chinese small arms designs, the Type 05 and the Jian She PDW (known as the Type 07 in the Merc 2000 timeline) suffer from the difficulty of manufacturing their innovative designs and the difficulty of obtaining the large amount of polymers they are made of.  Production therefore was dropped after a short time in favor of simpler, easier to manufacture weapons.

Type 64

     Notes: This Chinese special operations weapon appears to have taken its inspiration from the Russian PPS-43, though the entire weapon is lighter and the trigger mechanism seems to be a modified form of that in the Czech ZB-26 light machinegun, or perhaps a Bren.  Magazines are based on those of the PPS-43, but not interchangeable, as they are slightly wider.  The pistol grip appears to be virtually identical to that of the Type 56 (the Chinese version of the AK-47 assault rifle). The safety is similar to that of the SKS, while general receiver design is heavily influenced by the AKM.  The silencer is a spiral-baffle type that was introduced by Hiram Maxim near the beginning of the 20^th century, and is much longer than the 9.6-inch barrel.  Unlike most silenced submachineguns, the Type 64 was purpose-designed to be a silenced weapon and is not a standard submachinegun with a silencer attached.  Because of this, the silencer was designed to be used with automatic fire and does not wear out the silencer unduly fast.  By 2003, most of these weapons are virtually worn out and do not function well without a lot of work and refurbishing, and they are not found among active Chinese forces.

     The Type 79 is a lightweight submachinegun, made from steel stampings.  The Type 79 is based more upon the AK series to take advantage of soldiers’ muscle memory, and users trained in the AK will find no difficulty in using the Type 79.  The operating system is very complex for a small weapon, but this facilitates training and allows a light weapon to have less recoil.  The weapon is in use by the Chinese and several other countries. 

     The Type 85 is a simplified version of the Type 79 above, designed to be manufactured using easier manufacturing methods, and using a plain cylindrical receiver and simple blowback operation, unlike the AK-derived gas operation of the Type 79.  The magazine used may be the same 20-round one as the Type 79 uses, or new 30-round and 40-round magazines.  The switch to blowback operation also allows the Type 85 to use the low-powered Type 64 pistol cartridge, despite not being designed for silenced operation. 

     The Type 85 Silenced is a simplified and lightened version of the Type 64 silenced SMG, using the Type 85 submachinegun as a basis, but with few parts actually interchangeable with those of the standard Type 85 submachinegun.  It is even quieter than the Type 64 (80 decibels).  It can also be used with standard Tokarev ammunition; however, the sights are calibrated only for use with subsonic ammunition.  In addition, this version of the Type 85 may also use Type 64 Pistol ammunition.  This weapon has not been sold abroad.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These weapons were taken back out towards the end of the war in the Twilight 2000 timeline, but silenced versions were often no longer known for their quietness.

     Merc 2000 Notes: There were some sales of the Type 64 to Vietnam and the Philippines in the Merc 2000 timeline, but most of these weapons were destroyed and their metal used for other purposes. The Type 79 was a big seller on the international market, particularly in Eastern Asia and the Middle East.