Chinese small arms and armoured vehicles

Tongzhimen shubingmen he pengyoumen, nimen hao!
Dorogiye tovarshchi soldaty i druzhya!
Prolettarii vsekh Stran, Soyedinites!

On the small arms side this newsletter looks at shotgun ammunition, copies of the SIG-Sauer P226 and P228 pistols, a 35mm under barrel grenade launcher for the Model 95, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher, Chinese QJY 5.8mm general purpose machine gun, 9mm pistol and sub machine gun updates. The PLA has introduced new ration packs to feed its soldiers on the move which will be examined.

Armour stuff includes the Chinese armour in the future and in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, Chinese light tanks including, the unsuccessful WZ132 light tank and the attempts at producing an improved Model 62 light tank, the Korean Model 62 and a small piece on the ill-fated attempt to copy and produce the T-10 heavy tank; .and the Model 80-II main battle tank.

Other armoured vehicles include the Model 81 and 85 armoured command vehicles, the PLZ-45 155mm self-propelled gun and its laser guided ammunition and the Model 70-1 122mm self-propelled gun.


Chinese S&W Model 10 Revolver Update

The Chinese copy of the Smith and Wesson Military and Police/Model 10 revolver reviewed in a previous blog has a 75mm barrel and uses Chinese versions of pancake holsters similar to the Bianchi, Safariland and Hellweg models and a Chinese copy of the HKS speedloader.

9mm Silenced Sub-machine Gun Update

The 9mm silenced sub-machine gun mentioned is identified as the CF 05 sub-machine gun.

Neither Fish Nor Fowl – The QJY 88 5.8mm GPMG

Data on the QJY 88 5.8mm general purpose machine gun has become available. The weapon is 1151mm long and an empty weight of 11.8 kg, The barrel is 600mm long and the weapon has a muzzle velocity is 895m/sec with an quoted effective range of 1,000 metres. It has a 200 linked round magazine available. This weapon is suitable for neither role being too large and heavy for a light machine gun in its calibre and the cartridge too light for a tripod mounted sustained fire machine gun.

Bu comparison the 7.62 x 51mm FN MAG is 1260mm long, weighs 11.79 kg empty and has an effective range of 2,000 metres from its 630mm barrel. The 5.56x45mm FN Minimi has an overall length of 1060mm, an empty weight of 7.1kg and an effective range of 1,000m from its 430mm barrel.

‘Chinese’ SIG-Sauer Pistols

The Chinese have copied yet another Western design but at least make no attempt to hide it. The NORINCO NP22 is the SIG-Sauer P226 and the NP24 the P228. I am not bothering to give the details of the weapons as that gives NORINCO more credit that it deserves.

LG-1-I 35mm Underbarrel Grenade Launcher

This weapons slips over the barrel and attaches to the forward hand guard of the Model 95 assault rifle. It uses a copy of the Russian 40mm VOG25 HE grenade scaled down to 35mm which is muzzle loaded into a short rifled barrel like the Russian GP-25 underbarrel grenade launcher. It is 217mm long, 49mm wide and 95mm high and unloaded weighs 0.8kg and the rounds has a muzzle velocity and a maximum range of 400m.

Chinese 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher

The Chinese have entered the 40mm automatic grenade market with the LG3. The weapon uses the standard 40mm grenades and weighs 39kg empty. The weapon is 1030mm long, 229mm wide and 195mm wide and is a very clean design. The tubular tripod again is a very clean design that enables the launcher an elevation of -10o to +42o and a radius of 180o and the equipment is quoted being able to put a ten round burst at 2200m in an area 9 x 50m.


This newsletter is big on armour. This issue looks at armour in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, Chinese light tanks including, the unsuccessful WZ132 light tank and the attempts at producing an improved Model 62 light tank, the Korean Model 62 and a small piece on the ill-fated attempt to copy and produce the T-10 heavy tank, the PLZ-45 155mm self-propelled gun system, the old Model 80-II main battle tank and the Model 81 armoured command vehicle.


12 gauge Shotgun Blank Cartridge

This round is the base of all Chinese shotgun rounds as the cartridge does not have any projectile/s in the wad. The case is 63mm long meaning the case is shortened to 2.5 inches allowing more rounds per tubular magazine. The round is used for riot control and the wad is quoted as being unable to pierce the skin four metres from the barrel. The round weighs 10g and has a report on firing of 120dB.

Model 05 Rations

The PLA has introduced a new series of pre-packaged field rations ie. ‘rat packs’. These include MCF-240 240g ‘military compressed food’ (iron/emergency ration) blocks which also have a halal version. For the squad there are 10 man boxed rations. Ring pull cans are available containing such delicacies as aquatic product, bird, fruit, green vegetables and meat. Rice is available in individual soft foil pouches as well as condiments and clear soup bases as found in military ration packs world wide. There is a water-activated flameless ration heater pouch similar to the one used in the US Military MRE which can heat meals up to 600C. PLA forces on extended ops can now eat on the run instead of trying to forage off the population.


Future Chinese Armour

In a recent article in Tank and Armoured Vehicle (Tanke Zhuangjia Cheliang) titled Giant Dragon Rising ___ China Constructs a New Generation Transformed Army (Julong tengfei ___ Zhongguo jianshe xinxing daihua lujun) the future equipping of the PLA is examined. The ZTZ-99 can be fitted with a 140mm smoothbore gun and the future Chinese MBT will be equipped with it. The Model 62 light tank was trialled with the 105mm gun turret from the ZTZ-63A but is being phased out for the WZ551 fire support vehicle with its 105mm gun and when a tracked vehicle is required the ZTS- 63A amphibious tank. The ZTS-63A amphibious tank has improved cross country mobility and the WZ551 a much higher road speed. But both have increased firepower but significantly less armour, being able to be penetrated by heavy machine gun fire. If employed as anything other than reconnaissance vehicles they will suffer accordingly.

Armour in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War

In the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War the following Chinese AFVs were employed - the Model 59 main battle tank, the Model 62 light tank, the Model 63 amphibious tank and the Model 63 armoured personnel carrier. The Model 62 were at the vanguard of the first PLA units to cross into Vietnam and were used for infantry support.


Chinese VISMOD AFV

The PLA have used the Model 62 light tank as a visually modified vehicle for blue force opposing forces (OPFOR) use. This vehicle’s gun a ‘T’ shaped muzzle brake similar to the one used on the 90mm gun of the M48 main battle tank. It also had a circular infra- red searchlight mounted on the top and a fume extractor mounted 1/3rd up the
barrel. The mantlet was also squared off to represent the M48.

WZ131-1 Light Tank

In 1967 the PLA decided the Model 62 (WZ131) light tank needed updating as the 85mm gun was starting to show its age. The improved tank was designated the WZ131-1 and the project had a long history resulting in various upgrades that eventually led no where.

One upgrade was the addition of skirts over the tracks and bar armour around the rear arc and sides of the turret to detonate HEAT rounds before hitting the turret. In Chinese they translated as ‘improved screen added outfit cannon tower bars’. They do however give a great place for tank hunting teams to throw and hang explosive charges where they will sit against the sides of the turret.

A laser rangefinder was added to the top of the mantle to improve accuracy and at the same time, to improve the survivability of the commander in close battle, a 12.7mm machine gun turret from the Model 63 APC was to the commander’s cupola. Very similar in shape to the 12.7mm machine gun turret used on the M-113 ACAV, this copied the US Army in the Vietnam War where crews often added the ACAV turret to various AFVs. This increased their firepower in the event of close in attacks by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces by increasing the survivability of the gunner. This was the reason behind the adding of the Model 63 machine gun turret to the Model 62. In the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War the Model 62 suffered from severely from RPG hits due to the close in nature of the terrain. It was not introduced into service as it added 479mm to the profile of the tank and the experience of the Israeli Army in the 1973 Yom Kippur war where tank commanders were decapitated when the machine gun turrets atop their M48 and M60s were shot off in combat.

The Model 62 light tanks in PLA service have been modified with a bank of four smoke grenades launchers in armoured mounts added to both sides of the turret. The WZ131-1 had a combat weight of 19.86t, four crew and had an overall length with the barrel forward of 8.016m, a width of 2.994m with its side skirts and a height of 2.742m to the top of the machine gun turret and 2.263m without the turret. Its 316 kW diesel engine gave it a maximum speed of 60 km/hr and a maximum range of between 400 and 450km. Improved ammunition storage gave it 62 rounds of 85mm ammunition onboard compared to 46 on the Model 62. This could have been incorporated in the Model 62 during refits and maintenance. Compared to the Model 62 3,000 rounds of 7.62 mm machine gun ammunition was carried compared to the Model 62 and 825 rounds of 12.7mm machine gun rounds compared to 300.3das to the top of the metres long with the barrel including the barrel , by 2.994 inc85m wide by 2.35m high

The United States no longer has a light tank, not replacing the M551 Sheridan and Taiwan has updated the M41 as far as it can conceivably go. According to a Chinese article, Taiwan will start replacing the M41D from 2007 with an 8 x 8 wheeled light armoured vehicle mounting a 105mm gun. This may be a case of Chinese mirror imaging, foreshadowing the replacement of the Model 62 with the Chinese eight-wheeled 105mm gun armed wheeled tank destroyer.

The United States Army has had a difficult time trying to provide a light tank/wheeled armoured gun system for its personnel after the retirement of the M551 Sheridan after the 1991 Gulf War. The programme to make a light tank/armoured gun system (AGS) for the US Army started in 1980 and the M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System has yet to come into service. The M8 Armoured Gun System was developed – a light tank with a 105mm low-recoil gun but it showed how difficult it is to balance firepower, mobility and survivability on the modern battlefield. The PLA tried to find a replacement for the Model 62 light tank during the Cultural Revolution with the ill-starred WZ 132 light tank.

A Tortured Soul – The Story of the WZ132 Light Tank

The history of the WZ132 saga can be broken into three parts or phases; phase 1 from 1967 to 1969’ Phase 2 from 1970 – 1972 and Phase 3 from 1973 – 1975. If better is the enemy of good, this project exemplifies it. It went from a simple project competing with the upgraded Model 62 (WZ131-1) to almost an entirely new design. The first design used solid road wheels similar to those on the Model 63 amphibious tank and had a long barrelled 76.2 mm gun with a pepper box muzzle brake, making it look similar to Taiwan’s Type 64 light tank, itself a copy of the US M41 Walker Bulldog light tank. The next version of the WZ132 used the standard 85mm gun.

The capture of the then new Soviet T-62 main battle tank during the Zhen Bao Dao/Damiansky Island Incident gave Chinese armour designers access to the latest Soviet technology including the 115mm UTS-5 smoothbore gun and its APFSDS ammunition. To enable the vehicle to engage modern Western main battle tanks (MBTs) equipped with the 105mm gun, a 100mm smoothbore gun was installed in 1970 with the gun also being tried on the Model 59 MBT.

The diesel motor incorporated a supercharger, using compressed are, to give the tank a speed boost in combat. The WZ132’s 405 kilowatt diesel engine gave it an impressive power to weight ratio of 18 kilowatts per tonne and could climb 45 degree slope. Its maximum range was 500km and unlike the Model 62 it was amphibious, being able to travel a maximum of 6.84 km/hr in the water. The WZ132 design was finalised in 1973 but languished until its cancellation in 1975. It was decided to upgrade the Model 62 instead and resources, likely due to the dismal combat performance of light armoured combat vehicles like the BMP-1, or lack of it, during the Yom Kippur War. Light tanks could not compete on the modern battlefield and resources were needed for other projects rather than another light tank.

The final version of the WZ132 had a combat weight of 22.5 t, and had a hull length of 6.049m and an overall length with the gun forward of 8.528m. It was 2.92 m wide, 2.121 m high at the cupola and besides the 100mm gun, was equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun on the turret roof and two 7.62mm machine guns in the turret. It could carry 41 rounds of 100mm, 500 rounds of 12.7mm and 2,400 rounds of 7.62mm machine gun ammunition.


North Korean Light Tank Program

The Russian Book Red Dragon: Military Technology and Armaments of China: Volume 1 – Tanks, on page 94’ talks of 100 Model 62 light tanks being exported to North Korea armed with a copy of the U-5TS 115mm smoothbore gun used on the on the U- Russian T-62 main battle tank. . If correct then the Model 62 would have incorporated technology from the WZ132 programme and the turret could be the one from the WZ132.

WZ 111 Heavy Battle Tank

In 1960 China decided to develop a light, medium and heavy tank similar to the US program of 1951. The Model 62 was to be upgraded or replaced, the medium tank was to be an upgraded Model 59 and the heavy tank was to be a copy of the Soviet T-10 and known as the WZ111. Only the Model 69, the upgraded Model 59, entered service.

The T-10 had some major problems including a cramped turret and a flimsy hull, inherited from the IS-3, made worse by the hull now having a stamped belly plate in a shallow V shape, an even larger and heavier turret, and thus even more heavily stressed engine.

The project was cancelled in 1964 after a running chassis had been built equipped with a rudimentary steel box where the turret would go.


Model 80-II Main Battle Tank

The Model 80-II main battle tank was designed for export and is an improved Model 69-II. The state of the Chinese armoured industry during this period with the time it took to develop a simple upgrade. Started in as project 8503 its development was not finalised until December 1990 when M1A1(HA) Abrams and Challenger 2 main battle tanks were about to blast apart the Iraqi Army’s armoured forces especially any Chinese vehicle they encountered. They were obsolete from the moment they were ready for production but the design was further developed into the Model 59D main battle tank.

The combat weight is 38.5 tons and has a crew of four. The vehicle is 9.336m long, 3.372m wide and 2.29m high not including the 12.7mm cupola mounted machine gun. Its diesel engine is capable of 535kW and has a torque of 80 kP. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 57km/hr and a maximum range of 500km. The 105mm main gun is a copy of the British L7/US M68 and there are 44 rounds available. The co-axial 7.62mm machine gun has 2,250 rounds available and the 12.7mm AA machine gun 500 rounds.

Model 81 Armoured Command Vehicle

The Model 81 ACV is also designated the WZ 701 and is based on the Model 63 and uses the same extended hull as the WZ750 ambulance. The vehicle weighs 13 tons loaded for combat and contains seating for two crew forward of the rear and up to eight personnel in the rear. This makes for a crowded vehicle which includes a seat against the rear door and normally the personnel in the rear varies from 3 to 5. A battery fire control vehicle would have less personnel for example. The Chinese ACV version in the article was equipped with five Model A-220 short wave/FM radios, one Model 714B back pack radio and one Model 339 facsimile machine.

Model 85 Armoured Command Vehicle

Unlike the Model 81 featured in the previous newsletter, this vehicle uses the same hull as the vehicle it is based on, in this case the Model 86 armoured personnel carrier. This means that the vehicle cannot be readily identified as an ACV on the battlefield drawing unwarranted attention, ACVs being natural ordnance magnets.

The vehicle weighs 13.8 tons and has a crew of 8. It is 6.125mm long, 3.06m wide and is 2.59m high to the top of the hull. It is armed with the ubiquitous 12.7mm machine gun with 560 rounds. Its diesel engine produces 317KW and its torque is 54.3 kP. It has a maximum road range of 500km on road and 61km in water. Its maximum road speed is 65km and it can reach 6 km/hr in the water. A typical ACV fit out is one VRC-83 and two VRC-84 transceivers and one 70-2B facsimile machine.

PLZ45 155mm Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) System

The PLZ45 system has been in use since the late 1990s when Kuwait bought a battalion and in 2001 a second. For those with access to Jane’s Armour and Artillery some of this is old hat but this article gives the structure of the way the PLA foreshadows the organisation and equipment of the PLZ45 artillery battalion in the PLA’s new armoured corps structure.

Best described as Chinese M109A6 Paladin, the PLZ45 is the latest SPG in PLA service. In a PLZ45 SPG there are three eight-gun batteries (companies) with each SPG supported by a GCL45 ammunition supply vehicle, a copy of the United States Army’s M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicle (FAASV), using the same chassis as the PLZ45.

The PLZ 45 has a chassis length of 6.66m, a width of 3.23m and a height of 2.6m and has a crew of five. It can travel at speeds up to 55 km/hr a maximum distance of and is powered by a 412Kp diesel engine. It has a combat weight of 32t. The GCL45 has a three crew, a combat weight of 33 t and can carry 90 155mm rounds and charges. It can feed the 6 to 8 rounds per minute into the PLZ45 and has a maximum speed of 55 km/hr and a maximum range of 450km. Both vehicles have a cupola 12.7mm machine gun. The maximum range of the gun is quoted at 30km for normal rounds, 39km for base bleed rounds and 50km for rocket assisted rounds.

The company headquarters each have two ZCY45 C3 vehicles based on the YW534H APC. The vehicle has a crew of four and has an enlarged and heightened rear superstructure with two C3 terminals. The vehicle has a combat weight of 14.9 tonnes, can travel at a maximum speed of 65 km/hr and has a cupola mounted 12.7mm machine gun for self-protection.

The battalion headquarters, has nine GCL45 forward observation vehicles, one artillery locating/fire correction radar on a 6 x 6 truck chassis, a 4 x 4 truck mounted meteorological vehicle, two W653A armoured recovery and repair vehicles (ARRVs), four 4 x 4 maintenance and repair trucks and two ZCY45 C3 vehicles for the battalion HQ staff.

The GCL45 has the same enlarged rear chassis as the ZCY45 with the observation equipment mounted in a small armoured turret atop of the enlarged rear hull. The combat weight of the vehicle is 15.2t and it has a maximum speed of 65km/hr and a maximum range of 500km. There is a crew of four. As the GCL45 and ZCY45 use the same chassis as the PLA’s latest armoured ambulances which could lead to charges of targeting ambulances in combat.

Chinese Laser-Guided Artillery Round

The PLA now have 155mm Chinese made versions of the Russian Kraspanol laser-guided rounds available for use with the PLZ 45 self-propelled gun system.

Model 70-1 122mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

This was the PLA’s first Chinese designed self-propelled howitzer. First mooted in 1969 it did not see service until 1981 – a twelve year gestation for what was a simple piece of equipment! Based on the armoured personal carrier version of the Model 63-1 amphibious tank it is basically a Type 54 122mm howitzer mounted to the floor without its spades. The weapon has an elevation of +63.5 degrees and a depression of -2.5 degrees and can traverse approximately 22.5 degrees giving it some self defence and direct fire capability. It also carries a light machine gun, for self protection with 1,000 rounds, but no mount for it on the vehicle proper. The main gun has 40 rounds of ammunition and has a maximum range 15,300m with a base bleed shell and 11,800m with a normal HE round. The vehicle is amphibious using large full length rubber cylindrical floats attached to the hull.
It has a combat weight of 15.4 tonnes with a vehicle crew of two and five artillerymen. It is 5.6 m long, 3.070 m wide and 1.904m at the hull top and 2.279m high with the gun in travelling position. The ground clearance is 400m and its 317KW diesel engine produces a maximum of 58kP of torque giving it a maximum road speed of 56 km/hr and a maximum road range of 450km. To protect the crew against inclement weather a weatherproof canopy can be erected similar to one on a vintage sports car.