Operation, export and combat use of Chinese 14,5-mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounts
In 1949, the Soviet Army adopted the 14,5 mm Vladimirov heavy machine gun, chambered for a cartridge previously used in anti-tank rifles. The 14,5 × 114 mm cartridges are loaded with bullets of various purposes weighing 60-64 g, which have an initial velocity of 976 to 1005 m/s. The muzzle energy of the KPV reaches 31 kJ (for comparison: the 12,7 mm DShK machine gun has only 18 kJ, the 20 mm aviation ShVAK cannons - about 28 kJ). The KPV successfully combines the rate of fire of a heavy machine gun with the armor penetration of an anti-tank rifle, which allows it to effectively combat light armored vehicles.
The B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullet weighing 64 g penetrates 20 mm of armor at an angle of 20° from the normal at a distance of 300 m and ignites the fuel located behind the armor. For sighting in and adjusting fire at a distance of up to 1000-2000 m, 14,5 mm cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet BZT weighing 59,4 g are used. The bullet has a cap with a pressed-in tracer composition, which leaves a luminous trace visible at a great distance. At a distance of 200 m, the BZT bullet penetrates 20 mm of armor placed at an angle of 20° to the normal. To combat protected targets, 14,5 mm cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary bullet BS-41 weighing 66 g can also be used. At a distance of 350 m, this bullet penetrates armor 30 mm thick, located at an angle of 20 ° to the normal. The ammunition load can also include 14,5 mm cartridges with an armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullet BZT weighing 68,5 g, with an instant-action incendiary bullet MDZ weighing 60 g, with a sighting-incendiary bullet ZP.
Due to the high muzzle velocity of the 14,5 mm bullet, it has a flat trajectory at long range, and although the KPV was originally designed to combat armored targets, it was actively used in the creation of single-barrel, twin and quadruple anti-aircraft mounts.
In 1949, in parallel with the 14,5-mm infantry machine gun PKP (large-caliber infantry machine gun of the Vladimirov system) on the Kharykin wheeled mount, anti-aircraft mounts were adopted: single-barrel mount ZPU-1, twin ZPU-2, quadruple ZPU-4.
A captured 14,5mm ZPU-1 anti-aircraft gun in an Israeli museum
The most powerful in this family was the quadruple ZPU-4. The maximum rate of fire of the installation is 2200 rounds/min. The engagement zone is provided: in range - 2000 m, in altitude - 1500 m. To control the fire of the ZPU-4, an automatic anti-aircraft sight of the construction type APO-14,5 is used, which has a calculating mechanism that takes into account the speed of the target, the course of the target and the dive angle, which made it possible to effectively fire at air targets flying at a speed of up to 300 m/s.
Towing is carried out by light military vehicles. The presence of wheel suspension allows movement at high speeds. At the same time, the possibility of moving the unit by a crew of 6 people is difficult due to the relatively large weight - 2,1 tons.
To ensure the necessary stability during firing, there are screw jacks on which the installation is lowered when it is transferred from the marching position to the combat position. A well-trained crew performs this operation in 70-80 seconds. If necessary, firing can be carried out from wheels, but the accuracy is worse.
In 1950, a lightweight 14,5 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mount ZU-2 was developed for the Airborne Forces. To simplify landing, it could be disassembled into several parts weighing no more than 80 kg, suitable for transportation in packs.
14,5 mm ZU-2 installation in the Vladivostok Fortress Museum
By simplifying the design of the wheeled chassis, it was possible to reduce the weight of the installation to 650 kg compared to 1000 kg for the ZPU-2. The stability of the installation during firing was also increased, which had a positive effect on accuracy. The design of the ZU-2 allows for the transportation of the twin installation in various ways. It can be towed by light army vehicles or transported in the back of a truck over short distances. On the battlefield, the ZU-2 is moved by the crew.
However, transporting the ZPU-1 and ZU-2, not to mention the ZPU-4 on a four-wheeled cart in mountainous and wooded terrain, is very difficult. Therefore, in 1953, a decision was made to create a special small-sized mountain mount for the 14,5 mm KPV machine gun, disassemblable into parts suitable for carrying by one soldier.
The ZGU-1 installation successfully passed tests in the late 1950s. The weight of the new "mountain" anti-aircraft installation in the combat position together with a box for 70 rounds did not exceed 220 kg. At the same time, it ensured quick disassembly (within 4 minutes) into parts with a maximum weight of each no more than 40 kg.
However, the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense considered that the troops were already sufficiently saturated with large-caliber machine guns and there was no urgent need for the ZGU-1. The ZGU-1 was put into serial production in the second half of the 1960s, after the armed confrontation between North Vietnam and the United States intensified. The ZGU-1 was urgently modified to tank variant of the Vladimirov KPVT machine gun (the KPV variant, for which the ZGU-1 was designed, had been discontinued by that time).
The 14,5 mm mount, which could be disassembled into several relatively light parts, proved to be very popular in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The ZGU-1 significantly surpassed the 12,7 mm machine guns in armor penetration and destructive action of the bullet and reached enemy aircraft and helicopters at a range inaccessible to the Soviet DShKM and Chinese Type 54.
The Soviet Union later transferred these types of systems to its Middle Eastern allies. They were used by Iraqi and Syrian forces, as well as Palestinian groups.
A brief story about the Soviet 14,5 mm ZPU was necessary so that the reader would have an understanding of the basis on which China created its “own” anti-aircraft installations, which at a certain stage were complete or slightly reworked copies of Soviet models.
Beginning in the first half of the 1970s, after the Soviet Army began to saturate its military units Defense portable anti-aircraft missile complexes and short-range self-propelled SAM systems, interest in anti-aircraft machine gun mounts was lost, a number of 14,5-mm ZPUs were created in the PRC, which entered service with the PLA and were exported. Large-caliber machine guns of Chinese manufacture were very widely distributed in third world countries and among national liberation movements in Asia and Africa. They were imported together with Chinese armored vehicles or supplied separately. A very significant number of 14,5-mm machine guns manufactured in the PRC ended up in the hands of various kinds of rebels and outright gangs.
Quadruple 14,5mm Type 56 anti-aircraft machine gun mount
The story of the anti-aircraft guns produced in China for the 14,5 x 114 mm cartridge will be told in chronological order by the year they were adopted into service, and the first in this series is the Chinese copy of the quadruple ZPU-4 – Type 56.
14,5mm quadruple ZPU Type 56
In 1955, a batch of Soviet ZPU-4s was delivered to China, and after reviewing them, the Chinese military wanted to have what was at that time a very powerful air defense system in service with the PLA.
After receiving the necessary technical documentation, the production of quadruple Type 56 mounts was set up at Plant No. 152 in Chongqing with the help of Soviet engineers. Unlike the later 14,5 mm ZPUs, subsequently produced at Chinese enterprises, the Type 56 mount was practically no different from the Soviet prototype and had similar characteristics.
The Type 56 quadruple anti-aircraft mounts were mainly used in battalions attached to infantry regiments, as well as in anti-aircraft machine gun-artillery regiments and mixed brigades. Typically, an anti-aircraft machine gun company had six of these ZPUs.
The first anti-aircraft units armed with the Type 56 ZPU were based along the coast along the Formosa Strait. After relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated and the Chinese leadership feared a sudden disarming air strike, the quadruple 14,5mm mounts were placed in fixed positions around major military bases and airfields within range of Soviet frontline bombers.
Although in the 1970s the Type 56 ZPU began to be transferred to reserve formations, their active use in combat units continued until the mid-1990s.
Currently, the quadruple 14,5-mm mounts in the PLA air defense units have been replaced by modern anti-aircraft artillery and missile systems.
Production of the Type 56 quadruple mounts for export continued until 1982, and they produced many more of them than the Soviet ZPU-4.
The first major armed conflict in which the Chinese Type 4 was used alongside the ZPU-56 was the Vietnam War.
The quadruple 14,5 mm ZPUs were operated by both Vietnamese and Chinese crews. In mid-1965, 63 PLA anti-aircraft artillery regiments armed with 100, 85, 57 and 37 mm guns were deployed to cover targets in the border areas of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and on Chinese territory in close proximity to the Vietnamese-Chinese border. To protect anti-aircraft artillery positions from low-altitude strike aircraft, 14,5 mm Type 56 mounts were used, and they are credited with shooting down American combat aircraft.
Type 56 units were supplied to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War, and Iraq in turn used the Soviet-made ZPU-4.
There have been cases where the sides captured quadruple ZPUs from each other and used them in the same anti-aircraft units in parallel. Several dozen Type 56s were captured by the Americans in 2003.
The only European country that still has Chinese Type 56 ZPUs in service is Albania. In the 1960s and 1970s, Beijing supplied Tirana with over a hundred quadruple units free of charge.
Several hundred Type 56 machine guns are in service in North Korea and Pakistan, as well as in a number of other Asian and African countries.
Apparently, the quadruple 14,5-mm Chinese-made installations will remain in service with the armies of developing countries for a long time, and in addition to fighting air targets, they are considered a powerful means of protecting various stationary objects from rebel attacks.
Twin anti-aircraft machine gun mount Type 58
In 1958, the PLA received the 14,5-mm twin anti-aircraft machine gun Type 58, which was a Chinese copy of the Soviet ZU-2. But its mass production was established in the early 1960s. In terms of basic service, operational and combat characteristics, the Type 58 and ZU-2 were equivalent.
14,5 mm Type 58 twin anti-aircraft machine gun mount
The twin 14,5 mm Type 58 anti-aircraft mounts, due to their better mobility, were more widely used in the PLA air defense forces than the quadruple Type 56. The majority of the twin Type 58 mounts were used at the battalion level.
Unlike the USSR, in mainland China in the 1970s they did not lose interest in 14,5 mm anti-aircraft mounts, and Chinese designers created a lightweight twin ZPU, the carriage design of which used light alloys, thanks to which the weight was reduced from 640 to 580 kg.
Currently, Type 58 installations are preserved in second-line units of the PLA and in warehouses.
Unlike the Ground Forces, the Chinese fleet There is no rush to put the 14,5mm twin-barreled guns into reserve. Chinese patrol boats, small minesweepers and landing ships are still armed with installations adapted to the specifics of the sea.
Chinese 14,5mm twin mounts actively fought in Southeast Asia and, until the fall of the South Vietnamese regime in Saigon, fired at American and South Vietnamese aircraft and helicopters.
Chinese forces used the Type 58 against their former allies after the PLA invaded Vietnam in February 1979, sparking a short but bloody war.
In armed clashes, the parties actively used large-caliber machine guns. During fire duels in mountainous and wooded terrain, the superiority of the Type 75 over the 12,7-mm DShKM and Type 58 was revealed. Due to the greater firing range and higher rate of fire, the 14,5-mm twin-barreled guns in most cases won in fire confrontations with smaller-caliber machine guns. In addition, heavy 14,5-mm bullets had greater penetration, and it was more difficult to hide from them behind bags of soil and tree trunks.
A number of Type 58 ZPUs were received by Afghan rebels in the mid-1980s.
But due to their greater weight and dimensions, the dushmans used the twin 14,5-mm anti-aircraft guns to a limited extent. They were sometimes mounted on vehicles accompanying caravans with weapons and ammunition, and also provided permanent cover for large bases.
A significant number of 14,5mm Type 58 twin mounts were exported. These Chinese-made ZPUs are still actively fighting in Libya, Mali, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
To increase mobility, they are usually mounted on off-road vehicles and used against ground targets at a distance inaccessible to rifle-caliber small arms fire.
14,5mm Type 75 anti-aircraft machine gun
During the Vietnam War, Chinese intelligence managed to deliver a Soviet-made 14,5mm ZGU-1 mount to China, where it was studied and copied. Work on creating a Chinese version of the ZGU-1, which began in 1975, was completed in 1980, and the mount was adopted by the PLA under the designation Type 75.
Although the Type 75 was generally similar to the ZGU-1, it was not a complete copy of the Soviet mountain anti-aircraft gun and had a number of minor differences, mostly related to production technology.
14,5-mm Type 75 anti-aircraft gun in a firing position
According to reference data, the weight of the Type 75 without the cartridge box is slightly more than 140 kg. The capacity of the cartridge box is 80 rounds. The rate of fire is 550-600 rounds per minute. The combat rate of fire is up to 85 rounds per minute.
Like the Soviet prototype, the Chinese Type 75 was quickly assembled and disassembled into individual parts suitable for carrying by personnel and for pack transportation on horses. When assembled, the installation could be rolled by the crew over a short distance.
Due to the fact that during operation in the troops the unsatisfactory strength of a number of parts of the Type 75 ZPU was revealed, in 1983 the Type 80 installation appeared, distinguished by a more massive carriage and a wheeled chassis, allowing towing at high speed.
In terms of rate of fire and firing range, the Type 80 was no different from the Type 75, but was heavier.
The Type 1979 units did not make it to the 75 war, but they performed well in 1984 during armed clashes on the Vietnamese-Chinese border.
ZPUs, raised to the tops of hills, effectively provided fire support to the infantry. Heavy machine guns combed the jungle with fire, 14,5-mm bullets easily penetrated tree trunks, walls of buildings and destroyed light field fortifications of the Vietnamese army.
In Russia, it is not customary to remember this, but in Afghanistan, most of the Soviet combat aircraft and helicopters were shot down by Chinese-made anti-aircraft machine guns. The 14,5-mm guns turned out to be a very effective means of air defense, significantly surpassing the 12,7-mm machine guns in a number of key parameters.
In 1984, the rebels gained access to the Type 14,5 and Type 58 75mm ZPUs. The twin-barreled launchers had a higher hit probability, but the Type 75 was easier to transport and could be converted from the stowed position and back more quickly.
A 14,5mm Type 75 mount belonging to the Pakistan Army
Currently, the Type 75 is no longer in service with the Chinese armed forces, but it is still in service with other countries and is used by various irregular forces.
A 14,5mm Type 75 mount belonging to Yemen's Houthis on an off-road vehicle
Like other rapid-fire small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, the Chinese 14,5mm Type 75 machine guns are very often mounted on various vehicles, and such "tachankas" are very popular among various kinds of insurgents.
14,5 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mount QJG 02
About 20 years ago, the PLA adopted the 14,5mm QJG 02 anti-aircraft machine gun, replacing the Type 75.
14,5 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mount QJG 02
The QJG 02 heavy machine gun uses gas-operated automation with a gas piston located under the quick-change barrel. The barrel is locked by a rotary bolt, and fire is only in automatic mode, from an open bolt.
The machine gun can use all types of 14,5 mm cartridges, including new Chinese-developed armor-piercing cartridges with a subcaliber bullet in a detachable sabot, having an initial velocity of 1250 m/s and armor penetration of 20 mm of armor at a range of 1000 meters at an angle of 50°. The capacity of the belt, divided into detachable links of 5 rounds, is 50 rounds. The rate of fire is 600 rounds/min. The combat rate of fire is up to 100 rounds/min.
The machine gun weighs 75 kg with the mount. The weapon can be disassembled into several parts weighing no more than 20 kg, which allows the QJG 02 machine gun and its ammunition to be carried over significant distances by an infantry squad.
A coaxial machine gun mount is designed for installation on armored vehicles, various vehicles and patrol boats.
In our country, anti-aircraft machine guns have long ceased to be of interest, being content with models from the Cold War period. However, at present, weapons of this class have proven to be in great demand due to the development and spread of "drones-kamikaze", against which large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns are quite effective. In the current conditions, China has become a leader in the development and production of new anti-aircraft machine guns. As of today, a number of Arab states have bought the 14,5-mm ZPU QJG 02, and licensed production has been established in Iran.
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