>>64481134
This is definitely a related aspect. During the mid-Cold War era from the west / U.S. perspective, the United States was trying to figure out how to 'arm up' a lot of the smaller countries "against communism" as fast and cheaply as possible. This logistical philosophy was part of what inspired the AR-18 design (which also, was largely kaboshed by the mass-M16-adoption of post-1965 discussed upthread). The AR-18 was intended not as a rifle for the U.S. or Nato militaries to widely adopt but for smaller 'less-developed' countries to be able to cheaply produce.

>should have never been adopted
This should have, instead