WZ 9003 122mm self-propelled artillery
China is currently developing a new type of 8x8 wheeled combat armored vehicle. In March 2008 it was reported that the Chinese People's Liberation Army will be equipped first with the WZ 0001 infantry fighting vehicle in the vehicle family. After that, the WZ 4006 combat repair evacuation vehicle, the WZ 9003 type 122 mm self-propelled artillery, the BK 1060 type 35 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery and the WZ 7007 command vehicle will also be equipped with troops.
China is developing a complete family of advance 8×8 armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) with significant improvements in comparison to currently developed vehicles. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) will field the family following the publication of the pictures on the Chinese Internet. The first version to enter service will be an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), which was designated the WZ0001-armed with a 35 mm cannon. Most of the specialized versions will include a repair and recovery vehicle(WZ4006,, a 35 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) (BK 1060, a command poet vehicle (WZ 7007), and a 122 mm self-propelled howitzer (SPH) (WZ 9003). A number of versions including IFV (BK 1050) will be developed for the potentially valuable export market.
In recent years, there has been a trend of truck guns in the artillery industry. With the characteristics of lower cost and lighter weight, truck guns have a tendency to dominate the world, but in fact, the mobility of this type of artillery is very limited. Except for the Swedish "archer", most truck guns have two obvious shortcomings. The first is insufficient maneuverability. Off-road trucks can only adapt to part of the field terrain, and most of the time they need to rely on road maneuvering; secondly, there is insufficient automation, truck guns. The artillery is directly mounted on the chassis mount, with limited firing range and it is difficult to equip a loader.
Self-propelled guns do not have the defects of truck guns and have more comprehensive functions. However, the problem is that most traditional self-propelled guns use crawler-type chassis, which is not only self-weight, but also difficult to use the road network for long distances. Maneuvering relies heavily on railway lines, and most importantly, crawler-type self-propelled artillery is too expensive. The most typical is the German PHz2000, with top performance and top price, with a dead weight of more than 50 tons, which is definitely not consuming in ordinary countries. However, with the development of wheeled armored vehicles, wheeled self-propelled artillery began to emerge, and many countries have put howitzers on 8X8 armored vehicles.
Although China has a 122mm wheeled self-propelled artillery, this caliber is actually a bit embarrassing internationally. Countries that use NATO caliber are not waiting to be seen, and the wider range of application is the larger 155mm caliber. South Africa, Germany, and Italy introduced wheeled self-propelled artillery with 155mm caliber in the past few years.
Integrating artillery pieces and wheeled vehicles isn’t a great leap forward for modern armies. The main weapon of the WZ 9003 type is a 122mm howitzer, which can launch all kinds of standard 122mm ammunition. The power of 122mm ammunition can definitely be called: Compared with the 105mm ammunition of the US military, that advantage is quite clear. The WZ 9003 uses an 8X8 wheeled chassis with a combat weight of about 21 tons and a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. It is not only convenient for road maneuvering, but also has good conditions for air transportation, and can be maneuvered quickly.
Aside from the WZ 9003 the PLA has three other “medium” 122mm self-propelled howitzers in use. These include the light PCL-09 truck mounted gun. Then the PLL-09 is also based on the Chinese ground force’s favorite amphibious 8x8 APC. Then there are tracked 122mm howitzers like the PLZ-07 that uses the same hull as the ZBD-series of amphibious IFVs.
Fewer countries are adopting 122mm howitzers because of how popular NATO standard 155mm models are today. the PLA’s rationale for so many different self-propelled howitzers is to have multiple options for China’s challenging geography, as well as to have models exclusively for sale abroad.
The design reflects a recent popularity of mounting a towed artillery piece directly on top of a vehicle that would otherwise have towed the gun. This marked a return to early self-propelled artillery designs that prevailed after World War II, before concerns about the need for ballistic protection against counter-battery fire [among other considerations] gave preference to turreted designs.
The very poorly attested WZ 9003 seems not to have found favor with the PLA. There are very few mentions of this system, and only a single photograph.
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