I meant the context of using MLRS vs exotic artillery shell.
Self Propelled Gun/Rocket Launcher
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There's added benefits to a large calibre shell between 155-203mm.
Fundamentally, the shell will have better range than your enemy firing 155mm at the same technological level.
Bigger blast radius, cheaper and easier to minaturize current and future technology in it.
While of course, it brings cons like you mentioned, changing the whole logistic, making new gun platforms and carriers, supply chain have to retool for bigger shell.
They can slowly roll it out to be adopted on units that have older artillery that needs to be replaced.
It is a question that only PLA can answer but I just want to throw it out there to see if this is being considered.
Of course the cheaper methods should be used, I am comparing it to the ramjet round. Seems super excessive and expensive to increase its range for a 155mm round.
In early 1990s, Chinese MIC had concluded the development of a self propelled 203mm gun that is kind of like the American M110 howitzer. But it did not enter service. Around the same time, the MIC had also made breakthroughs in 155mm guns and various MLRS systems.
Huge caliber not as convenient to travel around. Rate of fire is slow like s-l-o-w, loading mechanisms are complex. The SPG, like 2S7 Pion/Malka is so huge, it's not easy to shoot and scoot around with. If spotted by UAV they are vulnerable to attack. While the ballistic results are exceptional, the mobility and the ease of hauling such huge shells are poor.
152mm and 155mm are the Goldilocks of artillery. Not too heavy not too small.
In fact, thanks to the conflict in Ukraine, we might be seeing a resurgence of small to medium sized artillery and mortars.
Unmanned imitation HIMARS used as target during live fire exercises.
Bigger caliber doesn't matter for SP artillery with automatic loading.
Rate of fire for larger guns isn't all that slower, as it's loading limited(thermal limitations for the barrel are quite far away). Historical 8" automatic guns exceeded 14 RPM cyclical, i.e. higher than almost all modern SP guns.
2S7 shoots and scoots quite fine, basically like any similar gun.
And if any SPG is spotted by an UAV, it's vulnerable to attack.
6" artillery is closely tied to human loading and logistics. As soon as it isn't the issue, it's fallacy.
Small to medium artillery, per Ukraine, are indeed good, but it doesn't mean that the trend is downwards.
What's bad is single 6" solution. It is neither strong enough(it's reasonably counterable by field forrifications and heavy armor) for many uses, and 6" shells are still damn hard to manufacture at war scale.
6" unification made sense for late 20th century mechanized warfare - preferably in a short, intensive conflict, leveraging prewar stocks.
I believe one of the CCTV features had something similar to this firing firefighting rounds
by78
General
Nope.