Early Lightweight 122mm Howitzers
The successful imitation of the Type 54 howitzer gave the People's Liberation Army its own artillery for the first time. However, the Type 54 prototype was a product of the 1930s after all. By the end of the 1950s, it had fallen behind the times. The overall combat skills could not meet the combat requirements of the PLA artillery at that time. Therefore, a new type 122 with lighter weight and longer range was developed. The millimeter howitzer has become a top priority.
Taiyuan Institute of the artillery factory had very powerful design talent that wasn't lost during the cultural revolution. Gun factory of Taiyuan's main task was to develop the new 122 mm howitzers, while addressing the 54-1 122-mm howitzers existing technical problems in the production. Even when the Type 54-122 gun was still in production, the Taiyuan Cannon factory began work on a new gun, with a range of 15-kilometer of 122 mm howitzers (the Type 54-gun had a range of 12-kilometer, more accurately spoken of as 11.8 kilometers), which would be the second generation of 122 mm howitzers, along with the Soviet Union and the United States. The D30 artillery of the Soviet Union was developed in the late 1960. The United States had started with a 105 mm howitzer with a range of 10~12 km, but, when the second generation came along, the range was 15-kilometer, so China had to take this step too.
1958 - 1st Attempt
The development task was first set in 1958. They were designed for the 1960's, but it was not successfully developed. When in the early 1960s, a new 122-mm howitzer was developed, the biggest problem was the exhaust plume. After the gun was fired, opening the breech ejected flames which could easily burn the operators. Breech-loading guns cannot have such exhaust plume, and a big exhaust plume breech-loading gun can be bad news.. Another problem is that was too heavy, about 3 tons, the cannon March-State weight. This was the first round of 122 mm howitzers of the Institute.
In 1949 the Taihang Industrial School was relocated to current address and renamed North China Vocational School of Ordnance. A few years later the name was changed to Taiyuan Machinery Manufacturing Industry School. In 1958, the school was promoted to a college with the name changed to Taiyuan Institute of Machinery. In 1958, the development of the second-generation 122mm howitzer was launched in China according to the needs of the army. The developers made full use of the design of the 54-type howitzer and made improvements on its basis, and soon made progress. In the early 1960s, a prototype gun was successfully manufactured, which brought a good start to the development of domestic weapons, but the subsequent setbacks caught people by surprise.
First of all, in order to increase the range to 15 kilometers, the chamber pressure of the gun was increased, and the weight of the barrel and the gun mount was also greatly increased. The weight of the whole gun was more than 3 tons, which is heavier than the Type 54, and the new guns of the army reduced The requirements run counter to the requirements; secondly, the new gun does not have a marching buffer device, and the self-compensating air tyre is unreliable. As a result, the vehicle produces violent vibrations when towing the artillery and causes damage to the parts; the biggest hidden danger is that the designer did not consider the problem of tail flame burning, every time a new cannon fires a shell, flame will be ejected from the tail of the gun after the breech block is opened, which can easily burn the operator. Although the new artillery was improved several times later, these problems could not be eradicated. Eventually, the development of the domestic artillery was forced to discontinue, and the 54-type howitzer was improved.
1967 - 2nd Attempt
Second round for a light 122-mm howitzers came after Lin Biao took office. Work on light 122-mm howitzers continued to develop during the cultural revolution. The gun factory of Taiyuan designed a gun, but dynamic characteristics were not designed well, and it had bad axial stability. This caused failure when continuously fired from the recoil of the barrel, and there was also pressure stability failure and deformation. Tests broke a cannon, so that light 122-mm howitzer project was terminated.
After the discontinuation of the second-generation 122 howitzer project, the PLA did not give up the development of new guns. During the Cultural Revolution, a development plan for the lightweight 122mm howitzer was proposed. This plan was to reduce the weight of the original 54-type howitzer from 2.5 tons to 1.8 tons, realizing a leap forward. Do not underestimate the weight of only 700 kilograms. At present, the total weight of the ultra-light 122mm towed howitzer in China is also controlled at about 1.8 tons.
To develop such a heavy artillery at that time required a great deal of material to make a breakthrough possible. It is a pity that due to the weak domestic industrial base that year, breakthroughs in materials and processing technology had not been made, and the radical evil results quickly emerged. Excessive weight reduction led to insufficient overall strength of the artillery, poor stability of the large frame, and poor rear seat devices. Reliable, as a result, the stability of the gun body is extremely poor every time the gun is fired, the beating amplitude is too large, and there have even been accidents of large frame damage after continuous shooting.
In the end, the development project of the light 122mm howitzer also came to an end. In all fairness, China’s proposal for the development of the second-generation medium-caliber howitzer was not later than the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the weak industrial foundation dragged down the entire artillery development work, coupled with the influence of the Soviet Union’s “artillery obsolescence theory”. As a result, when the United States and the Soviet Union finalized the M102 and D30 howitzers with a range of 15 kilometers in the 1960s, China was still dealing with the problems encountered in the test of new artillery. When the second-generation artillery became popular, the PLA had backward equipment from World War II still in use.
1970 - 3rd Attempt
The previous two failed experiences did not dispel the enthusiasm of domestic developers. In 1970, a new round of artillery development was launched again at the request of the People's Liberation Army. Compared with the previous two development tasks, this development task has been adjusted to some extent, but the overall indicators were still more demanding. For example, the maximum range must reach 15 kilometers, the weight can only be reduced and the weight of the 54-type howitzer cannot be increased, and 360° crcular shooting ability is required.
To developed a new 122 mm howitzers, with increased range and weight reduction, the artillery felt the weight was not too much emphasis, but range should go up. For a good range, 15-kilometer is the key performance indicator. Development was started in the 1970-1971 for the third time, the tactical and technical index and adjustment, range, it's not too heavy, at least upheld the gun heavier. Of course, it also can rotate 360 degrees, like the Soviet Union, the United States cannon at the second division level. At this time, cannon-making a plan of Taiyuan, Northwest Institute of electrical and mechanical services has put forward a proposal, but the program review did not pass. In 1971 it was transferred under administration of the 5th Department of Machinery Industry. The institute was temporarily shut down in July of the same year due to Cultural Revolution.
This time, a different research institute in Northwest China was responsible for developing the new gun. In order to meet the requirements, the institute has launched a lot of new technologies, such as the use of a more accurate bottom concave bullet design, a more advanced hydraulic replacement device, and the large frame structure of the American M102 howitzer. In theory, the new type of artillery developed this time basically meets the requirements of the PLA for the second-generation medium-caliber artillery.
The design of the new type of artillery was demonstrated and revised for many times, and the first prototype was produced in 1977. This time the overall performance of the new gun has basically reached the tactical index formulated at the beginning, and even the shooting accuracy of the bottom concave bullets used far exceeds the index requirements.
But the tragedy is that the new gun has once again been planted to its weight. The total weight of more than 3 tons is far greater than the original target of 2.5 tons. And limited by the level of industrial manufacturing, the overall structure of the hydraulic device of the new gun is complicated, and the reliability is worrying. There have been many problems in the test, and the gun replacement plan that has been developed for many years failed.
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