Soviet anti-aircraft self-propelled gun ZSU-57-2, nicknamed "hell thresher", tried in the early 80 - ies to copy in China. For this purpose, several such combat vehicles were purchased abroad.
Chinese WZ-554 twin-barrel 23mm SPAAG pic.twitter.com/eL0AUCY5FK
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The Type 69-II medium tank was chosen as the chassis. small improvements were made, for example, the combat compartment became airtight, as it received a roof.
a small number of such self-propelled guns were produced, which received the designation type 80.
then the tower with two 57-mm guns decided to move to a more modern light and accordingly mobile chassis. At this time, the industry of the Middle Kingdom developed a multi-purpose tracked platform, on the basis of which were created: 130-mm and 152-mm self-propelled guns, 120-mm tank destroyer, 122-mm multiple launch rocket system and samples of engineering equipment.
the new zsu differed from the original model in that the 500-horsepower engine and transmission were located in the front part of the hull, so the combat compartment was shifted to the side of the stern.
Several prototypes were manufactured, which passed the tests, but this installation was not adopted. In terms of its effectiveness, it was already significantly inferior to its foreign peers, so the designers began to develop the direction using small-caliber rapid-fire guns.
Currently, the PLA ground units cover from air attacks with two tracked ZSU at once: a 25-mm four-barrel PGZ-04A with additional missile armament and a 35-mm twin PGZ-07. Samples based on wheeled armored personnel carriers and all-terrain vehicles have also been created.
alexey moiseev
