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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Chinese Forces Still Using Crossbows

Just went back to catch an episode of "Top Shot" that I missed. Episode 4 of the current Season 4, "Crossbow Crossfire," had the following blurb splashed on the screen:
Today Chinese armed forces still use crossbows at all levels from traffic police to special forces.
Traffic police!?! Well a bolt is reusable, versus a valuable round of 5.8x42mm. But here's a quote from Wikipedia:
In Asia, Chinese armed forces use crossbows at all unit levels from traffic police to the special force Snow Leopard Commando Unit of the People's Armed Police and the People's Liberation Army. One justification for this comes in the crossbow's ability to stop persons carrying explosives without risk of causing detonation. Furthermore, during the Xinjiang riots of July 2009, crossbows were used alongside modern military hardware to quell protestors.
- Wikipedia, from "Crossbow" 
 Well, that makes sense. And the bolt is still reusable.

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