Preface: When New China was founded, the artillery industry was basically in a state of poverty. It could only manufacture warheads in small quantities. It was difficult to manufacture cartridges . After the artillery troops finished firing, they had to hand over the cartridge cases for reloading. The troops also had to clean the battlefield. Don't pay attention to collecting shell casings. The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea could only be maintained by cleaning up inventories and repairing artillery shells. It was not until the manufacture of Soviet-style ammunition that the weapons were basically standardized. Soviet-style artillery shells were relatively crude, so they were used make do. Until the 1980s, China's Artillery shell technology has made great progress.
: Introducing a 155mm artillery shell production line
China copied American artillery shells in the early 1950s. After 1953, the People's Liberation Army all replaced Soviet-style equipment, large-caliber artillery uses 130 and 152 mm calibers. During the Iran-Iraq war we sold some 152 howitzers and ammunition, but no matter how well they were made, they were not easy to sell. There were very few foreign trade orders. If you want to enter the mainstream market, you have to open up. 155 mm caliber, 1985, China China introduced Dr. Bull's 155mm GC45 howitzer, concave bottom projectiles, bottom evacuated projectiles, and a complete set of internal ballistics, external ballistics, and aerodynamic calculation software, called Project 922. This was China's first comprehensive contact with Western artillery and Ammunition technology starts here In addition to imitating the Type 021 155mm towed howitzer, it also introduced several ammunition production lines. The drawings of the 155mm artillery shells were not very complete after they were shipped to China, and there was no complete design calculation book. There are also many problems, and many parts are not the right size.
The projectiles produced by the artillery shell factory according to the actual objects and drawings were very poor. The cartridge belt was not strong enough and almost all were polished after launch, resulting in poor density. China had to calculate its own aerodynamic force and strength. Later, Boolean Doctors sent an expert team to China to teach internal and external ballistics, aerodynamic knowledge and calculation software. Dr. Bull's shell has a unique shape, which is different from the traditional M107 155mm shell that is short, thick and fat. In order to increase the range, Dr. Bull came up with front and rear tips, a middle drum, and four rudder blades to replace the upper centering part, which is similar to a date pit. Streamlined artillery shells, this kind of artillery shell is 940 mm-960 mm long, The slenderness ratio is 6 times the bullet diameter, which is 240 mm longer than the cylindrical M107 155 mm artillery shell. Compared with the M107 155 mm artillery shell, this shell has low shock wave resistance, and the range is significantly increased when the muzzle velocity is 2.5 times Mach. After installing the bottom row device, the bottom resistance can be reduced by 60%, and the total resistance is reduced. 30%, that is, a 30% increase in range.
Dr. Bull called it a "low-drag long-range full-bore bullet" and China called it a jujube nuclear bomb. In order to continue to increase the range, Dr. Bull lengthened the barrel to 45 times the caliber, making it Dr. Bull's 155mm howitzer has a range of 39 kilometers , but the biggest problem of the jujube nuclear bomb is that the four rudders are in contact with the barrel. When fired, the disturbance in the chamber is large, the spread is large and unstable, and sometimes the density is only one hundredth. At the beginning, there were no welded rudders in the Chinese factory To install the equipment, the rudder piece had to be screwed to the missile body with screws. There have been incidents of the rudder piece falling off.
After China successfully imitated the Type 021 155mm towed howitzer and jujube nuclear bomb technology, the military agreed to finalize the 155mm concave bottom bomb as the DDB01 155mm grenade and ordered 20,000 rounds. The bottom volley bomb was not agreed to be finalized because of its poor density, so it was taken foreign trade, in Pakistan has been demonstrated several times, with a range of only 37 kilometers. The reason is that the air density at the seaside is high and there is a headwind. However, the Pakistanis did not listen to the explanation and did not buy it. The developers improved the bottom discharge column and igniter to solve the problem of falling powder and The problem of ignition consistency, and at the same time increasing the intensity, the density of the bottom row bombs meets the requirements,
19 In 1995, when the 155mm self-propelled howitzer participated in the Kuwait tender, the bottom volley shell was demonstrated for more than a month. During this period, although the ammunition was left in the open air in the desert above 40C for several hours, the shell exploded after being fired 300 meters away. unexpected, but overall it was relatively successful, and Kuwait was also quite satisfied. , signed a contract to purchase an artillery battalion of artillery and more than 70,000 rounds of artillery shells in 1997. However, the People's Liberation Army believed that the density of the imported GC45 artillery had not met the requirements and failed to be installed. The 7,000 employees of the artillery production plant still had profits. It was less than 20 million yuan. Under such circumstances, Northern Company dared to sign a contract for delivery within three years. It showed great courage and courage.
Foreign Trade 155's artillery production factory is also an important state-owned enterprise in my country that produces large-caliber artillery. It has nearly 7,000 employees. At that time, the annual output value did not exceed 70 million yuan, and the profit was estimated to be less than 20 million yuan. It was necessary to maintain the operation of the factory. , but also to pay wages to employees, the difficulty of which can be imagined. Factory wages are often in arrears, and medical bills are even more in arrears. At that time, the state had a subsidy (equivalent to the current hardship subsidy) for large state-owned enterprises that were in particularly difficult circumstances, and the annual subsidy allocated to the factory reached 50 million yuan.
2: The production of 155mm artillery shells
Because the investment of more than 100 million yuan in the 155mm artillery shell production line only produced 3,000 rounds, it stopped for eight years. The condition of this production line was very poor at the time. In the 1980s, China's military production tasks dropped sharply, and the economy of the artillery shell factory fell into a low point. There was no money to pay for heating bills in winter, many electronic components were frozen, and many pipes were frozen. The wages of each worker were only 200 yuan, and they were often in arrears. The Ministry of Ordnance also rented a piece of land for the factory to farm to make a living. Naturally, the workers suffered a huge loss from farming.
The old-fashioned 152mm artillery shell production line cannot produce 155mm artillery shells. The reason is that the 152mm artillery shell production line uses welding tools and cannot process heat-treated millimeter artillery shell bodies. The processing accuracy has also been improved by nearly two levels, requiring more precise CNC machine tools. and expensive imported knives, the factory had to raise part of its own funds to renovate the equipment, and also had to bring back the workers who had been lost to the sea. The production line has been restored, and the production and processing of 155 mm artillery shells is much ahead. The 152 mm artillery shells are cut by blue crisp, stamped by a hydraulic press, and heated by coal. The wall difference after punching is more than 5 mm. The yield rate is only 90%, and no heat treatment is performed. The wall bounces very well It is thick, can only hold 5.8 dry grams of explosives, and has a killing area of only 1,500 square meters. Traditional machine tools with poor accuracy are used to process the outer arc of the projectile. For the anti-corrosion of the projectile, workers use a brush to paint, and the centering part and the ammunition belt are coated with gun oil. Before firing, the gun oil must be removed first.
The 155mm shell is cut by sawing, combined with a hydraulic press and electric heating. Punching and drawing are completed in one go. The wall difference is only 2 mm, and the yield rate exceeds 98%. CNC machine tools and continuous heat treatment are used to process the outer arc of the projectile. equipment , the shell wall is very thin, can hold 8.4 dry grams of explosives, and has a killing area of 3669 square meters. However, the shell wall is relatively thin and the closing is not easy to control. Scraps often occur. This problem was later solved by increasing the wall thickness. 155 mm shells The flexible drug injection production line was the most advanced in Asia at the time, with a very high degree of automation and an injection density of up to to 1.6 grams/cubic centimeter. It is also safe and environmentally friendly. The anti-corrosion treatment is electrostatic overall spray painting. It can be stored for 15 years without rusting. It does not need to remove gun oil when it is taken out.
However, the missile body still had rust problems when it was first delivered to Kuwait. , the domestic salt spray prevention standard at that time was Within 48 hours, these artillery shells were shipped in containers. After arriving, there was a lot of rust on the surface. People had to send people to remove rust and repaint the shells. Later, they switched to epoxy modified paint, and the anti-salt spray standard was raised to 96 hours. The problem was solved, but the four rudder blades of the cannon are welded, and the problem of rust caused by surface defects has not been solved. The last problem is the large-area misfire problem of fuze and . The artillery shell uses the American M739A1 fuze produced by the 844 Factory. The production line was sold to China by the United States for US$5 million. The M739AI fuze can be used on short-barreled artillery. , but problems arise with guns with longer ranges. Due to time constraints, the ML-I3A fuze produced by the 641 Factory was switched to the ML-13 fuze. The ML-13 fuze also had a blind fire problem. The developers had to risk their lives to dig out blind fire shells to solve the problem.
However, the problem of early explosion has not been completely solved. This is the matching problem between date nuclear bombs and fuzes. The 155mm date nuclear bomb can be used in the domestically developed PLZ45-155mm self-propelled howitzer and AH4-type 155mm light howitzer. SH15 type 155mm vehicle mounted howitzer, NATO Howitzers are limited to using No. 8 or No. 9 charges when firing. China's 155mm foreign trade howitzers can also fire American M107 grenades. However, China's 155mm foreign trade howitzers have a large powder chamber and long barrels, and can only use No. 4 or above. The charge is fired. No. 3 and below are fired due to low chamber pressure. The Chinese army's own 155mm artillery uses more dense cylindrical bullets instead of jujube nuclear bombs, and the two are not completely interchangeable.
Three: The development of 155mm artillery shells
155mm date nuclear bombs are divided into 5 categories and more than 30 types, including DDB01 concave anti-explosive bombs, DDB02 bottom row anti-explosive bombs, BEE6 anti-personnel explosive bombs, DDM02 sub-munitions, and BEA1 semi-explosive bombs. Armor-piercing projectile, B ER1 concave incendiary bombs, BES5 concave smoke bombs, BES6 concave illumination bombs and BES7 concave yellow phosphorus bombs. Each type of bomb has a training bomb, and most of them have been put on the market. The main ammunition is DDB01 concave killing bomb. Explosive bombs and DDB02 bottom row anti-explosive bombs adopt the shape of low-resistance long-range full-bore bullets. The projectile slenderness ratio is 6.0, the arc length is as high as 4.7, and the flight resistance is 0.73. It is equipped with cartridges and modules. Type propellant, mechanical trigger and radio proximity fuse, with 52 times the firing range of 155mm artillery, the range is 32 kilometers and 41 kilometers respectively. The bottom concave bullet and the bottom platoon bullet have the same body, and can be easily converted by replacing the tail. ,
In 1999, China discovered that South Africa had developed a bottom-row rocket composite extended-range artillery shell, and China soon The project was approved to develop the DDB03 bottom row rocket compound extended range anti-explosive bomb. The shape of this shell is basically the same as the DDB01 bottom concave anti-explosive bomb, but an rocket engine is installed in front of the bottom row device. The two share a nozzle. After the launch, the bottom row device stops working for 17 to 18 seconds, and the rocket engine ignites and speeds up to 120 meters/second. In this way, the range can be increased by 20 kilometers. The initial development was not smooth. The reliability of the rocket engine was not good. The burning speed of the charge increased several times in a high-speed environment and could only burn for 1 second. After a series of technical research, it was successfully developed and the range reached 52.5 kilometers. In 2004 After being finalized in 2007, it became one of the selling points of China's foreign trade artillery system.
DDB03 The main disadvantage of the bottom-row rocket compound extended-range anti-explosive bomb is that the rocket engine takes up space, which affects the power of the shell. There are also problems such as thrust eccentricity leading to reduced accuracy. However, many countries regard the range as a deterrent weapon. In 2014, the improved version The DDB04 bottom-row rocket composite extended-range anti-explosive bomb has optimized the rocket engine and increased the shooting intensity. The range has reached 60 kilometers. It has now been exported to many countries. Open-chamber ammunition mainly includes armor-piercing anti-personnel submunitions, mine-laying bombs and radio jamming rounds. The shape and range are consistent with the DDB01 concave anti-explosive bomb and DDB02 bottom-row anti-explosive bomb. The submunition contains 56 armor-piercing anti-personnel bullets or 2 Large bullets, mine-laying bombs are equipped with 6 anti-armor mines, and radio jamming bombs are equipped with a jammer that can jam 8 frequency bands. The jammer jamming time is 60 minutes and the jamming radius is 700 meters.
In recent years, 155mm artillery shells also include low-cost guided artillery shells, terminally sensitive ammunition, guided artillery shells , sub-caliber long-range guided artillery shells and other guided munitions. The terminally sensitive ammunition contains two 145mm diameter terminally sensitive projectiles, millimeter wave and infrared. Anti-rotor blades for inductive end-sensitive bullets, spherical and cross speed parachutes for deceleration, lidar height measurement and auxiliary identification can accurately scan, identify, locate and damage armored targets within a range of 10,000 square meters. The guided artillery shell is also a standard artillery shell. The whole shell is mainly composed of laser, image, satellite control cabin, warhead, and stabilization It consists of tail fin, deceleration and anti-rotation device, bottom row device, etc. After launch, the satellite positioning system starts to work. Based on the position of the shell and the target, it calculates the ballistic adjustment direction and changes the flight trajectory to attack the target. These foreign trade ammunition have become the best-selling products of China's military industry in the international market. Chinese artillery shells are purchased by more than 10 countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, and Ethiopia. The cumulative sales of more than 500,000 rounds have earned 20 More than 100 million U.S. dollars (equivalent to 16 billion to 20 billion yuan according to the exchange rate at the time) was a very important income for the military industry enterprise .
Four: A new generation of artillery shells
Although China mainly promotes jujube nuclear bombs in the military trade market, the jujube nuclear bombs have an outstanding range and the vertical density can only reach 1/2 at best. 20 or so, and the bullet shape is slender, with both ends being tapered, and the space is not good, which affects the power of the ammunition. Except for China and South Africa, no other country in the world produces date nuclear bombs. The market space for date nuclear bombs will become smaller and smaller, and the international military The mainstream 155mm artillery shells in the trade market are cylindrical shells, which are also very popular in the market. It is more powerful than the jujube nuclear bomb, and it eliminates the need for rudders. It has better centering in the chamber, more stable flight, better shooting accuracy, and a larger load capacity than the jujube nuclear bomb. This is also one of the biggest advantages. Only the range index is slightly worse. , if the bullet length is increased to 900 mm and the slenderness ratio is increased to 5.8, the range will only be 2-3 thousand closer than the jujube nuclear bomb. meters. Although the range has been slightly reduced, the power and density have been improved. This design is more reasonable. The United States has always used cylindrical projectiles such as M795 and M107. All military powers that use NATO 155mm artillery are equipped with 155mm cylindrical projectiles. Even the earliest South Africa, which developed date nuclear bombs, also turned to the development of cylindrical bombs.
In the future, the demand for cylindrical bullets in the international military trade market will be even stronger. Therefore, China has also launched 155 mm cylindrical bullets on the market. The Chinese Army has comprehensively demonstrated and After analyzing date-core bombs and cylindrical bombs, the date-core bomb was finally abandoned because the production of date-core bombs is very troublesome and requires welding of rudders. The rudders need to be processed separately with a machine tool. The rudders have a relatively complex structure and are then welded to the projectile body. During welding, It is necessary to use gas shielded welding and preheat the projectile body. The processing is not as convenient as the cylindrical projectile. It was developed in the early 1990s. The LZ05 155mm self-propelled howitzer uses cylindrical projectiles. In 2005, the LZ05 155mm self-propelled howitzer was put into service with anti-personnel and explosive-type and long-range anti-personnel anti-explosive cylindrical projectiles. In 2008, submunitions, long-range submunitions, and prefabricated Fragmentation bullets, terminally sensitive bullets, laser terminal The missile , incendiary bombs, illumination bombs, and smoke bombs have all been developed, and a total of hundreds of thousands of rounds have been delivered. The anti-explosive I-type cylindrical bomb is actually an imitation of the American M107 155mm grenade. It has the same ballistic trajectory and is universally used. Because it is a high-resistance bullet with a flat bottom and a small slenderness ratio, it has a short range and low power.
The anti-explosion type 2 cylindrical bullet is also an imitation of the American M795 155mm grenade. It uses a medium-impact bullet shape with a shallow concave bottom and a large slenderness ratio. The appearance of the American and M843 type 155mm sub-munitions is basically the same, but the length is slightly shorter. , the projectile can be loaded with 10.8 kilograms of explosives, which is twice as powerful as the M107 155mm grenade. This kind of cylindrical bullet can be converted into foreign trade in a short time and at low cost, and the parts and accessories of the self-used cylindrical bullet can be used to the maximum extent. The concave bottom cylindrical bullet can be used for 75%, and the bottom row cylindrical bullet can be used for 85.7%. The two types of shells are only guided missiles. There is a difference between the belt and the air-closed ring, and the elastomer body is stamped using the hydraulic press . A production line only needs to replace different molds. Two types of artillery shells have been produced. China has also designed a unique anti-ship 155mm semi-armor-piercing projectile. The mushroom-shaped warhead adopts a semi-armor-piercing structure with a hood and a time-delay fuze at the bottom of the projectile. This semi-armor-piercing projectile is mainly used on shore. Anti-gun damage to surface ships, can penetrate 30-60 mm armor plate or 1-1.5 meters of concrete, penetrate the hull and detonate. It has been exported to Africa.
Five: Conclusion
After the introduction of the 155mm GC45 howitzer, the Chinese artillery shell factory suddenly entered the world's advanced ranks. As a result, it mastered advanced artillery shell design and production technology. Through digestion, absorption, improvement, and gradual improvement, it was exported in large quantities. But now Still a little lacking, Nowadays, old-fashioned TNT or B explosives are used for both export and self-use. Foreign countries have begun to use PAX.PBX high-energy and low-fragile explosives that only burn but do not explode when hit, and their production does not pollute the environment. Foreign countries have also begun to use modular propellants in large quantities. , although China also has module propellants, but they have a lot of residue, large muzzle smoke, and high prices and have not been sold. They still mainly rely on package propellants, but I believe they will catch up soon.
