PCL-161 122 mm Truck Cannon (SPH)
China has continuously developed and rapidly equipped three of the world's most advanced vehicle-mounted guns, and its fire support capabilities at all levels have entered a new era. In addition to the new type of vehicle gun that has received much attention since its first official public appearance in October last year, it has frequently appeared in military news reports, the PCL-181 type 155mm vehicle howitzer on domestic and foreign propaganda platforms, and two more cutting-edge new models. Vehicle-mounted gun-PCL-161 122mm vehicle-mounted gun with MV3 medium-sized high-mobility vehicle as the base and PCL-171 122mm vehicle-mounted gun with "Warrior" CTL181A as the base.
Judging from the few news reports and videos and pictures from other channels, these three new 122mm vehicle-mounted guns have all been installed in the army. Their exposure equipment has suddenly increased the number of models and equipment of the PLA vehicle-mounted guns. The successive installation of these new vehicle-mounted guns has brought the Army�s artillery equipment development into a brand new era. The future artillery firepower development of the PLA Group Army Artillery Brigade and Synthetic Brigade Artillery Battalion has a clear context.
The artillery brigade is equipped with tracked 155mm self-propelled howitzers and 155mm vehicle-mounted howitzers, the heavy synthetic brigade is equipped with crawler-mounted 122mm howitzers, and the medium synthetic brigade is equipped with 122mm 8X8 wheeled self-propelled howitzers and 122mm vehicle-mounted howitzers. The light synthetic brigade and the airborne brigade are equipped with the PCL-171 lightweight 122mm vehicle-mounted gun. As a result, the Chinese ground artillery entered the era of mechanization in one fell swoop, leading the world.
As for why China will develop and equip two new types of vehicle-mounted guns with the same caliber on two different sites, the reason behind it is actually not complicated. The first reason is to equip the synthetic brigades with different key defense directions with different 122mm howitzers. In general, the standard 8X8 wheeled 122mm self-propelled howitzers for the medium brigade are much more expensive than truck guns. Some medium-sized brigades can be supplemented with the cheaper PCL-161 122mm vehicle-mounted gun.
The second reason is to support different manufacturers so that everyone has a bite of food. Military industrial enterprises are special. If they do not win orders for a long time, their development will be unsustainable. In order to maintain the vitality of the industry and allow the continuous and healthy competition of China's vehicle-mounted gun industry to develop, the 122mm vehicle-mounted guns are equipped with both rain and dew.
Secondly, the PCL-161 type 122mm vehicle-mounted gun and the PCL-171 type 122mm vehicle-mounted gun have significant differences in their performance characteristics due to the obvious differences in the ground. The PCL-161 122mm vehicle-mounted gun, which uses the MV3 medium-sized high-mobility vehicle as the base, has the advantage of stronger ground carrying capacity and larger effective carrying space, so it has more ammunition and more comprehensive supporting equipment. The single-vehicle firepower index and independent combat capability are stronger.
The PCL-171 122mm vehicle-mounted gun with the "Warrior" CTL181A as the base is very compact and the space is relatively tight. Therefore, the ammunition is relatively limited, and it needs to be equipped with a special ammunition vehicle to provide enough ammunition. This is it The disadvantage. And its advantage is that the weight and volume of the whole vehicle are lighter and smaller than PCL-161, and it is more convenient and quick to transport and mobilize, for example, it can be stuffed into a medium-sized transport aircraft for air transport. For light brigades, the PCL-171 is a "light equipment" that is more in line with their combat positioning. In particular, the light brigades are basically equipped with the "Warrior" series of vehicles. Equipped with PCL-171 can unify the chassis, which is also of great significance for logistical supply and maintenance support.
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