History
The CS/LS7 is part of a weapon development program initiated by the Ministry of Public Security to acquire a new type of submachine gun, replacing the older Type 79 submachine gun.
After trials, the CS/LS7 was selected to be the next-generation submachine gun for the Chinese police force, and was first showcased on the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China parade in 2019. Initially, the Chinese military had no request of any submachine gun, thus initially the CS/LS7 has no official military designation from the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
In 2021, CS/LS7 was reportedly to replace QCW-05 submachine guns in the PLA service.
Design
The CS/LS7 uses blowback, closed bolt operation. The upper receiver is made of metal, while the lower receiver is made of polymer material. The weapon has an ambidextrous charging handle, fire selector, and lengthened magazine release lever located in front of the trigger guard. The telescopic stock can be removed and replaced with a fixed stock. The bolt release is located on the left side above the magazine well.
The weapon features a full-length picatinny rail on top of the upper receiver and handguard. Three short Picatinny rails are mounted on the 3, 6, and 12 o'clock positions of the handguard. A secondary handguard option has a Picatinny rail only on the receiver and the 6 o'clock position of the handguard. The third option, seen in the hands of PLA soldiers on the 70th anniversary parade, features short Picatinny rails mounted on 6 and 9 o'clock positions, but not on 3 and 12. It's possible that handguard configurations can be changed upon customer requests. The handguard can also be replaced with an integrated front grip, similar to that of MP5K. The weapon can be fitted with a QMQ-171 holographic sight and other attachments.
