The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces in the 1979 Afghanistan Conflict The head of the Afghan bureau of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, claimed that the CIA paid 5,000 for the first AK-74 captured by the Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan war.

Today, the rifle is used by most countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, together with armies in the developing third-world. The AK-47/AK-74 has been produced in quantities in the many 10’s of millions, and it is said that more AK’s have been produced than all other models of assault rifles combined.