China finally gets out of its own way on body-barrel guns

China out of its own way on the body tube artillery, establish a good reputation to harvest the big single of the landed country

In the 2017 Gulf Defense and Aerospace Exhibition held in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti Army displayed the plz45 self-propelled artillery equipped with China's production, which is very eye-catching. In the 1989 Kuwaiti self-propelled artillery procurement tender, China sent to go to the entire plz45 self-propelled artillery system to participate in the tender, with excellent performance and good man-machine efficacy won the Kuwaiti Army's favor, and in 1997 and 2001, respectively, purchased a battalion of total **** 54 guns.

In subsequent exercises and actual combat, the plz45 did not disappoint the Kuwaitis, and as a result, it has accumulated a good reputation and has received orders from Saudi Arabia and Algeria.

In the 1980s, China's body-barrel artillery in the counterattack war against Vietnam and North China exercises exposed many problems, such as caliber complexity, backward performance indicators and other issues, the development of new artillery is imperative; however, throughout the 1980s, the lack of domestic military spending, can not afford the cost of research and development, so the research department set up a foreign trade to promote the strategy of domestic demand; due to the good international situation, China was able to introduce Dr. Boer's 45-caliber 1500 caliber artillery gun. Due to the good international situation, China was able to introduce Dr. Boer's 45x155mm gun technology and Austrian equipment for electroslag re-melting and self-tightening of the body tube. Based on this background, the plz45 self-propelled gun was born.

The Plz45 self-propelled artillery system consists of the plz45 self-propelled gun and various command, reconnaissance and protection vehicles, using advanced fire control and electronic systems, featuring long range, high accuracy and flexibility in deploying/stowing.

Compared with the U.S.-made M109 series of self-propelled guns, the 45 times the diameter of the plz45 has a longer range and higher accuracy, and the level of informatization has been significantly improved compared with similar products. In addition, by meeting Kuwait's various demands on the product, the plz45 not only changed from the traditional screw-type bolt to a wedge-type bolt that can increase the rate of fire, but also possessed the best man-machine efficacy among the contemporaries of domestic weaponry, introducing the concept of man-machine engineering into Chinese weapon design and laying the foundation for the research and development of the subsequent models.

The success of the Plz45 is not the end of the road. Its 45x gun, derived from Dr. Boer's GC45 gun, has the same data indicators and the same problems.

The GC45 was the first large chamber, long-barreled 155mm gun to fire NATO-standard ammunition, and its ballistic performance was in line with NATO standards; however, the ratio of projectile travel at the end of the burning of its firing charge to the full travel of the projectile was too large, resulting in excessive muzzle pressure, which in turn affected the firing accuracy and muzzle moderation metrics.

This is also reflected in the experiments of the plz45, where the headlight of the experimental prototype vehicle was broken by the shock wave and the aluminum alloy armor plate was dented and deformed during the firing experiments.

In order to solve this defect and to improve the performance of the self-propelled gun, China's scientific research department referred to the NATO *** Same Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding, and for the plz45 self-propelled gun's 23-liter chamber, upgraded the gun's multiplier to 52 times, and improved the number of rifled wires and the degree of entanglement; at the same time, the plz45's bodywork, loading device, and the electronic fire-control system made comprehensive improvements and upgrades, launching the plz45's bodywork, loading device and electronic fire-control system. and upgrades, the plz52 self-propelled gun was introduced.

Plz52 compared with plz45, the range is much higher than the former, the rate of fire is greatly improved, the degree of digitization has been significantly improved, the shooting accuracy is greatly improved, and the variety of ammunition is also complete; it can be said that the world's strongest self-propelled artillery has a place in the ranks of it. In addition, plz52 self-propelled artillery system supporting vehicles have been comprehensively upgraded, greatly enhancing the combat effectiveness of the entire system.

China's strongest self-propelled gun is not the plz52, but the plz05 self-propelled gun. plz05 self-propelled gun is better than the plz52 in terms of maneuverability, rate of fire, and chassis stability, and has a larger chamber, and the number of rifled wires and the degree of entanglement has been optimized; in terms of ammunition, the plz05 adopts a dual-mode firing charge, equipped with various types of munitions, including precision guided munitions, which is a step forward for China's own self-propelled artillery. In terms of ammunition, plz05 adopts dual-mode firing charges and is equipped with a variety of munitions, including precision-guided munitions, thus stepping out of China's independent ammunition system.

From imitating the Soviet artillery, to imitating the Western artillery, China's body-barrel artillery development has been catching up with the world's advanced level, and there has been a research and development that is backward strange circle; and from plz05 onwards, China in the body-barrel artillery finally out of their own way, to reach the ranks of the world's most advanced level.