So for example if Vietnam threatens Cambodia due to the newly started canal project PCL-181 is more suitable to be deployed there a components of a stationing package than PZ-05.
Self Propelled Gun/Rocket Launcher
- Thread starter FORBIN
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For now the PCL-181 remains a towed howitzer replacement for the PLA and not the PLZ-05. They even ordered a new variant of the PLZ-05 with recent pictures so they are not giving up on tracked SPGs. Until the PCL-181 gets a variant with a full autoloader and capability to fire without preparation (entrenching and deployment of crew externally), I highly doubt the PLA would choose to make the artillery component of their Heavy Combined Arms Brigades wheeled.
antiterror13
Brigadier
Interesting that PCL-181 is not full autoloader, why is that? what the reason China chose that? surely not because of limiting technology, cost wise perhaps? In real live full autoloader may get jammed too easily ?
Cost, weight, complexity/failure rate.
Heavy combined arms brigades are equipped with track vehicles. Medium combined arms brigades are equipped with wheeled IFV vehicles. Light combined arms brigades are equipped with light vehicles.
He was asking about 155mm tube artillery.
155mm tube artillery like PLZ05 and PCL181 do not equip combined arms brigades.
The tube artillery that combined arms brigades have in their artillery battalions are 122mm in calibre. Those 122mm calibre tube artillery are of course based on respective vehicles (tracked AFV, wheeled AFV, wheeled truck) depending on whether the combined arms brigade in question is heavy, medium or light/high mobility.
Meanwhile, 155mm tube artillery equip the battalions of dedicated artillery brigades in the PLA.
Depending on the PLAGF artillery brigade in question, it can have multiple battalions of 155mm tube artillery, including both tracked (PLZ05) and wheeled (PCL181) platforms, and from memory there are some artillery brigades whose 155mm battalions are only wheeled or tracked, but I don't track the orbat very closely. Needless to say the mix up of tracked versus wheeled versus both is dependent on the environment and mission that each given artillery brigade has.
As others have said, PLZ05 and PCL181 fit slightly different roles.
Purchasing PCL181 is not technically done at the expense of PLZ05 because of that.
They will probably order more PLZ05s in the future but probably of the improved PLZ05B variant. The existing PLZ05/A variant doesn't seem as optimized as the PLA likes for them to have placed a large order of them.
Meanwhile the PCL181 is fairly well optimized for its role which would partly explain why the PLA were happy to buy them in decent numbers from the outste.
It's likely due to weight, similar function vehicles such as Caesar and archer all weight more than the PCL-181, at base configuration of 25 tons it can still be carried by a Y-9, which is a huge plus as it will reduce strain on limited number of Y-20s. If they do pursue some sort of upgrade it will probably max out at assisted loading like the Caesar rather than fully automated turret like the archer.
Joseph Wen noted that the "default" setup on paper for a regular arty brigade was 2 tracked battalions and 2 wheeled (plus 2 rocket). However, just how closely they follow this setup seems unclear. The 73rd is known to use exclusively wheeled howitzers.
Would have to dredge up the post, but there were articles posted before that stated this was an absolute requirement (1 in Y-9, 2 in Y-20)