China vs. Russia: who has better landing combat vehicles? (The National Interest, USA)
China belatedly appeared in the arena of amphibious assault vehicles, writes TNI. This explains their backwardness from Russian developments. Defense and national security expert Charlie Gao compared the capabilities and tactical and technical characteristics of Chinese vehicles with Russian models and concluded that they are inferior to almost all BMDS in service with Russia.
China is modernizing and developing its airborne corps, and it seems that it is moving away from Russian and Soviet basic weapons. The Chinese airborne troops are not part of the ground forces, but rather part of the Air Force of the People's Republic of China (PRC Air Force). They are also considered a strategic branch of the armed forces capable of rapidly deploying their capabilities in crisis areas to protect China's interests.
The armored backbone of these forces is made up of ZBD-03 amphibious assault vehicles. Like the Russian amphibious assault vehicles (BMD), the ZBD-03 are landed from a transport aircraft for operations behind the enemy's front line. But how good are these ZBD-03s? What are they in comparison with the latest Russian BMDS?
Unlike Russia, Chinese airborne troops have only recently started using amphibious assault vehicles (AIFVS). China formed the first airborne units in the 1950s, and they consisted only of infantry, while the Soviets manned the units with amphibious self-propelled artillery units ASU-57 (America at the same time for the first time adopted the amphibious anti-tank installation M56 "Scorpion"). The Soviets responded by adopting the heavier airborne self-propelled gun ASU-85.
When infantry fighting vehicles first appeared in the 1960s, the Soviets developed the first amphibious assault vehicles (AIFVS) along with their first infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs): the armament of the BMD-1 was borrowed from its heavier ground cousin, the BMP-1. Then the BMD-2 and BMD-3 were developed and adopted in the Soviet Union, and already in Russia — the BMD-4. Russia has also developed several models of the BTR-D amphibious armored personnel carrier, which had more internal space, but its weight is already approaching heavier weapons.
China belatedly appeared in the arena of amphibious assault vehicles. Military engineers of this country began developing such machines only in 1975, that is, seven years after the start of production of the BMD-1. Development continued throughout the 1970s, and by 1980, the first prototypes were transferred to the troops for testing.
The prototype under the designation WZ141 was armed with two recoilless guns and two HJ-3 anti-tank complexes (a variant of the Soviet 9M14 "Baby"). However, due to the political situation, work on the WZ141 project was discontinued, and the Chinese airborne troops were not engaged in the development of an amphibious assault vehicle until the 1990s.
In the 1990s, China's relations with Taiwan deteriorated further, and this revived interest in airborne troops. China acquired several BMD-3s in 1996 to study how they are made, as well as to integrate such combat vehicles into its armed forces.
And soon China began developing the ZBD-03, its own amphibious assault vehicle. In many ways, the design of the ZBD-03 can be considered quite outdated. The driver and the commander are placed in the body of the car, and at the same time the commander's seat is located immediately behind the driver's seat. As for the gunner, he is located in a small tower behind the driver and commander. The infantry compartment is located behind the turret in the rear of the combat vehicle.
In contrast, in the Russian BMD-3 and BMD-4, the commander's place is in the tower. The Soviets tried to place the commander in the body of the car behind the driver-mechanic in the BMP-1, but experts concluded that this was much worse than placing him in the tower, since in the first case the commander's ability to search for targets using a periscope was limited (targets located on the side are blocked by the tower itself). In the first case, there are also size restrictions, which negatively affects the quality of optical devices for the commander — for example, if the periscope and other devices are too large, they will interfere with the operation of an artillery piece.
The armament of the ZBD-03 is much inferior to the armament of combat vehicles of the BMD series. According to Chinese websites, the automatic cannon installed on the ZBD is similar to the Russian 2A72 cannon. However, experts believe that the 2A72 cannon is inferior to the 2A42 automatic cannon, which served as the basis for it, and this is due to the muzzle brake and barrel relief. All BMDS, with the exception of the BMD-4, use the 2A42 cannon as their main weapon. The BMD-4 also has a 2A72 cannon, but the main one for it is a 100-millimeter 2A70 cannon. The ammunition of the ZBD is only 50 shells for a 30 mm cannon, while the ammunition of the BMD-3 is 860 shells.
HJ-73 anti-tank installations are installed on the Chinese combat vehicle (they could be seen at the exercises in 2016, but they were not noticed in 2017). The speed of these anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMS) is very low in comparison with modern complexes of this kind, and, in addition, these missiles have weak penetration rates.
All Russian BMDS, starting with the BMD-1P (adopted in 1977), are equipped with more powerful anti-tank installations 9M111 "Fagot" and 9M113 "Competition". On the newest BMD-4, 9M117 anti-tank complexes are installed — their 100-millimeter projectile is controlled by a laser beam, and this is almost a space age compared to the HJ-73 complex.
In addition, Russian BMDS have much more advanced detection devices. The newest Russian BMD-4M have the best detection devices among all Russian combat vehicles. Both the commander and the gunner of the BMD-4 have a thermal imaging sight, and its search and strike complex allows you to effectively hit armored targets. The ZBD-03 doesn't even have close to that kind of capability.
Although the ZBD-03 cannot be called useless, this combat vehicle is inferior in firepower to almost all BMDS in service with the Russian army. Its backward anti-tank systems do not allow effective action against modern armored vehicles, and the 30-millimeter cannon does not stand up to any comparison with foreign models. The position of the commander in the corps limits the modernization potential of this machine. If China intends to take its airborne operations seriously, then it should probably seriously consider upgrading the ZBD-03 or replacing it.
Charlie Gao
Charlie Gao studied political science and computer science at Grenell College. He often makes comments on defense and national security issues.
