Yo, listen up, gun enthusiasts! Let’s take a quick dive into the wild world of light machine guns and automatic rifles. These bad boys hit the scene just before World War I, cranking up the firepower for infantry units. Fast forward to the end of World War II, and you’d find them chilling in fire teams or squads. Nowadays, modern military tactics revolve around using these beasts for some serious suppressive fire action.

Now, let’s talk about our Soviet comrades in the early ’70s. They realized their RPD to RPK switch wasn’t cutting it for their infantry squads. The RPK, while technically a light machine gun, was more like an automatic rifle on steroids, struggling to lay down the heavy fire they needed. So, in 1973, the Minister of Defense of the USSR said, “Enough is enough!” and kicked off the “Poplin” program to develop a new 5.45 mm light machine gun that would finally give their infantry the firepower they deserved. Lock and load, comrades!