Indian Army Not Impressed With PLA’s High-mobility Howitzers And Anti-tank missiles Making Debut On The Tibetan Plateau
Artillerymen assigned to a brigade under the PLA 77th Group Army operate vehicle-mounted howitzers to fire 122 shells at simulated targets during a live-fire operation in Tibet
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently held live-fire drills in a high-elevation region in the Himalayas, where some of the PLA’s latest weapons, including a new 122-millimeter caliber wheeled howitzer and the vehicle-mounted version of the HJ-10 anti-tank missile system, made their first public appearances.
Compared with their heavier counterparts, these two new weapons are by high mobility, which will come in handy – particularly in plateau regions.
A combined arms brigade of the Tibet Military Command recently conducted a series of live-fire artillery exercises in the middle section of the Himalayas, which has an elevation of about 4,600 meters.
The drills featured precision artillery strikes on hostile headquarters, missile installations and communication hubs using long-range rocket launcher systems. This was followed by live-fire coverage of hostile positions, bunkers and camps with howitzers, according to a report.
In addition to the new camouflage the soldiers wore, military observers also noticed th debut of two new weapons: a 122-millimeter caliber wheeled howitzer and the vehicle-mounted version of the HJ-10 anti-tank missile system.
The new howitzer looks very similar to and uses similar technologies as the PCL-181 155-millimeter caliber wheeled howitzer, which made its debut at China’s National Day military parade in 2019.
However, this version has a shorter barrel and four wheels instead of the PCL-181’s eight wheel., This means the new 122-millimeter caliber wheeled howitzer can shoot in all directions and can be deployed rapidly, a significant advantage over its 122- millimeter caliber predecessor, the PCL-09, the report said.
A Beijing-based military expert compared thus with the 155-millimeter caliber PCL-181, and said that the new 122-millimeter caliber howitzer is more mobile and better-suited for air transport via tactical cargo planes like the Y-9.
At the cost of range and firepower, the new howitzer’s smaller and lighter ammunition is easier to transport and reload.
Another newly revealed weapon is the vehicle-mounted version of the HJ-10 anti-tank missile system. Compared with the original version that uses tracks and is loaded with four missiles, this new version uses four wheels and is loaded with two missiles.
This configuration can greatly reduce its weight, making the system more mobile and easier to maintain.
The HJ-10 can not only destroy armored ground targets within 10 kilometers, but it can also attack small water surface targets and low-speed aircraft like helicopters, reports said.
In plateau warfare, wheeled vehicles can often enjoy an advantage over vehicles that use tracks, which are heavy and are affected by lower levels of oxygen, analysts said.
Not to worry, the T90 tanks are just waiting for the day when in spite of low level of oxygen are ready to blast away any thing and everything which the PLA is capable of pumping into occupied Tibet and then try and cross the LAC in Ladhak.
