The WZ-523 (''

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

M1984'') is a six-wheeled

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

designed to be amphibious. Built on the chassis of the Hanyang HY472 truck, it can carry a crew of three and seat up to eight additional passengers. Two primary models were produced—one with a roof-mounted 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and the other with a small turret armed with a 35mm grenade launcher and a 7.62mm co-axial general purpose machine gun. An export model that entered service in 2008 as a fire support vehicle was also marketed successfully to the

Namibian Army The Namibian Army is the ground warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's army was the fastest of the three arms of service. The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990. The Army was formed ...

; this is armed with a 73mm

2A28 Grom The 2A28 Grom also known as KBP 2A28 Grom, is the main armament of the Soviet-designed BMP-1 and BMD-1 infantry fighting vehicles. It is a 73 mm low pressure smoothbore semi-automatic gun with a wedge breech block. Development of the 2A28 G ...

smoothbore cannon using the same turret as the Soviet

BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet Union, Soviet Amphibious vehicle, amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle that has been in service from 1966 to the present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (), meaning "infantry fighting vehicle, 1st ...

infantry fighting vehicle. The WZ-523 was unveiled at a military parade in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in October 1984, gaining the NATO designation M1984, although it was destined for export and did not enter large scale service with the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA)."WZ523 Wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier"
. ''Sinodefence.com''. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2012. An internal security vehicle based on the WZ-523, the ZFB-91, which has a turret armed with a 35 mm grenade launcher and a 7.62 mm machine gun replacing the roof mounted 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun of the WZ-523, is in service with PLA units in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Development and history

The WZ-523 is based on the domestic Dongfeng EQ245 truck platform, with a new chassis. It was developed in parallel with the competing project

WZ-551 The WZ-551 is a Chinese wheeled infantry fighting vehicle family. The name WZ-551 actually covers two families of vehicles with the official designations in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) – Type 90 and Type 92. Over 3,000 WZ-551s are in ser ...

. Due to utilizing old technologies, WZ-523 was developed much faster with initial production starting in 1983. It first appeared on the 35th National Day parade in 1984. However, it WZ-523 chassis eventually lost its bid due to having worse performance than WZ-551. WZ-523 project was then refocused for export effort and did not enter large scale service with the

(PLA). When the WZ-523 was first exhibited publicly, there were many observations by international defence analysts regarding its design origins. Although the hull design resembled that of the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Sandock-Austral Sandock-Austral was a South African defence company formed through the 1971 merger of the Austral armaments company and Sandock Ltd dockyards, as a subsidiary of the Gencor mining group. The company was absorbed into Land Systems OMC, part of B ...

Ratel The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed across Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only living species in both the genus ''Mellivora'' and the subfami ...

infantry fighting vehicle, subsequent studies have found that while there may have been some South African influence, the WZ-523 has many unique characteristics in overall dimensions and technical features. For example, its driving compartment is somewhat reminiscent of the

BTR-60 The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet Union, Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR (vehi ...

, with a single passenger seated next to the driver. The location of the turret ring is also similar that of the BTR-60 series rather than the Ratel, being located near the hull center. The

has deployed the WZ-523 primarily for reconnaissance purposes, and for specialized tasks involving artillery and combat support units. Despite being designed as an armored personnel carrier, it was not adopted by Chinese mechanized or motorized infantry forces. Outside of China,

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Military Industry Corporation The Military Industry Corporation is the state-run defense corporation of Sudan. It is responsible for the production of a wide range of defence equipment, such as munitions, firearms, artillery etc. History The MIC was established by national ...

also produces the WZ-523 under license.

Specifications

WZ-523s have relatively good range and payload, and may seat up to ten passengers who enter and debus from a single door in the rear hull. The vehicle has a long, boat-shaped hull with a trim vane mounted on the glacis plate. It is fully amphibious once this vane is raised, being propelled at speeds of up to 7 km by two water jets at the rear. A two-piece windscreen is provided for the driver and a passenger seated to his right. During combat, the windscreen may be covered by hinged armored shutters. Export models of the WZ-523 are offered with a variety of turreted armament options, including a 12.7mm machine gun and a one-man conical turret incorporating a single 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun to the right and a heavier armament of the customer's choice to the left.Jane's Armour and Artillery, 2002, Volume 23 p. 439-440. WZ-523s in Nigerien and Gabonese service have been re-engined with German Deutz BF6 diesel motors.

Variants

;WZ-523 :Armored Personnel Carrier armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. ;ZFB-91 :Internal Security Vehicle based on the WZ-523.

Operators

*: 60 in service, not including ''ZFB91'' variant. *: 10 *: 20 *: 3 *: 58 delivered in 2009–2010; 4 ambulance version delivered in 2012 and 24 others in 2013. *: 21; export model incorporating the

turret. *: 2 *: produced under license as the ''Shareef 2''.

References

* Foss, Christopher F. ''Jane's Tanks and Combat Vehicles Recognition Guide''. London: HarperCollins, 2002. . {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Amphibious armoured personnel carriers Armoured fighting vehicles of the People's Republic of China Internal security vehicles Wheeled armoured personnel carriers Six-wheeled vehicles Military equipment introduced in the 1980s Wheeled amphibious armoured fighting vehicles

Development and history

Specifications

Variants

Operators

See also

Vehicles of comparable role, performance, and era

References