Type 80

The Type 80 is a Chinese general-purpose machine gun manufactured by Norinco. Development began after Chinese engineers studied Soviet PKM examples captured from Vietnamese forces during the Sino-Vietnamese War. The design reached finalization in 1980. Although the weapon was intended to replace the Type 67, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) opted to retain the earlier model following evaluation in the Chengdu Military Region.

The firearm utilizes a gas-operated, open-bolt action and is air-cooled. It features a belt-fed system that draws from 100-round boxes in light machine gun configurations or 200- to 250-round boxes when used in tripod-mounted roles. The weapon is equipped with a foldable bipod attached to the gas tube and can be mounted on a tripod. Primary sighting is provided by open iron sights, with provisions for mounting optical or night-vision scopes. While early production used wooden furniture, later export models transitioned to polymer materials.

The Type 80 entered service in 1983, primarily seeing use with the PLA Marine Corps and airborne units. The Type 86 variant was accepted for use as a secondary weapon in armored vehicles. For the international market, Changfeng Machinery developed the CF06, also designated as the CS/LM4, which was formalized in 2008 for export. Sudan manufactures a local version designated as the Mokhtar through the Military Industry Corporation. International operators include Turkey, which acquired 2,800 units for infantry and border units, and Sri Lanka, which received approximately 200 units. The weapon has been documented in numerous regional conflicts, including the Syrian Civil War and various insurgencies across Africa and the Middle East.