The PCL-171 is an assault-vehicle-mounted, 122 mm

self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

used by the Chinese

People's Liberation Army Ground Force The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), also referred to as the PLA Army, is the army, land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 192 ...

. The designation "PCL" is an acronym derived from

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

().

Development

The PCL-171 made its first public appearance during a

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

report of an exercise in December 2020. According to the report, it entered service in the second half of 2020. It was designed as an even more mobile and lightweight platform to complement the

PCL-161 The PCL-161 is a truck-mounted self-propelled howitzer used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force. The designation "PCL" is an acronym derived from pinyin (). Development The PCL-161 was first unveiled while doing exercises in t ...

, which is based on a larger truck chassis but also equipped with a 122 mm howitzer.

Design

Each battery consists of 6 PCL-171 guns, command vehicles, ammunition vehicles, reconnaissance vehicles and other equipment. Some of the non-gun vehicles are based on

Dongfeng Mengshi Dongfeng Mengshi was originally a family of 4×4 Infantry mobility vehicle/ MRAPV/off-road vehicles developed by Dongfeng Motor Group. Early generations of the vehicle are built with imported Hummer H1 chassis, while later generations of the vehi ...

CTL181A 4×4 armoured vehicles, with at least two variants in service. The command vehicle has communications equipment mounted on the vehicle while the reconnaissance vehicle is fitted with a

counter-battery radar A counter-battery radar or weapon tracking radar is a radar system that detects artillery projectiles fired by one or more guns, howitzers, Mortar (weapon), mortars or rocket launchers and, from their trajectories, locates the position on the g ...

system, including a radar antenna and an opto-electronic sight mounted on an elevating mast.

Gun

The howitzer has a maximum firing range of with conventional ammunition and up to with extended range ammunition. Each vehicle can carry 28 rounds of 122 mm rounds, for a total of 168 rounds of rounds for a battery of 6 guns.

Vehicle

The PCL-171 is based on Dongfeng Mengshi 6×6 assault vehicle chassis, specifically the CTL181A variant. After the gun enters its firing position, 2 front hydraulic jacks and 2 backhoes can be automatically lowered to increase stability. PCL-171 is fitted with

hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, invented by Paul Magès, produced by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers. Similar systems are also widely u ...

, allowing better gun depression when direct firing.

Deployment

In April 2020, at least 6 PCL-171s were deployed in a training exercise in an unknown location.

Operators

* :

– 120 units as of 2022.

References

External links

直击演训场：战力猛增！解放军新型车载榴弹炮实弹射击画面公开三代“猛士” 电子侦察车指挥车罕见同框亮相！, 军迷天下
– CCTV7 documentary on

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featuring PCL-171 {{PRCAFVs 122 mm artillery Military vehicles introduced in the 2020s Self-propelled artillery of the People's Republic of China Six-wheeled vehicles Wheeled self-propelled howitzers