People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers stationed in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have received new marksman rifles QBU-191, Zhang Han reports on Global Times. In an article released by PLA Tibet Military Command's WeChat public account, photos show that the new rifle arrives during the seasonal maintenance of their weapons. The new rifle is expected to replace the QBU-88 sniper rifle that is currently used by the troops.
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Chinese soldiers in Tibet examine their new QBU-191 sniper rifle (Picture source: web via Global Times)

A military observer, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times the plateau's extreme cold will help test the rifle's performance in extreme environment, collecting first-hand data for its future optimization. This rifle will first equip some special operation forces.

QBU-191 is the marksman version of the QBZ-191that should exist in four versions: shortened version, standard-issue version, light machine gun version and sniper/marksman version. According to Light Weapons Magazine, the new QBZ-191 assault rifle is thus likely to adopt a modular design, and some parts can be shared between the four rifle versions.

QBZ-191 assault rifle (Picture source: China-Arms.com)