The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 230 Type 81 122mm Self-Propelled Howitzer

After the infantry fighting vehicle was completed, Liu Tao also began to consider the development direction of the next weapon.

As for firearms, they are more or less sufficient and are not really needed for the time being.

The anti-tank missile was also carried along with the infantry fighting vehicle this time, and was dealt with by him.

The Type 81 anti-tank missile is a tube-launched, optically aimed, infrared automatically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system that can be mounted on vehicles or aircraft. It has a range of 4.5 kilometers, a static armor-piercing thickness of 1030 mm, and a dynamic armor-piercing thickness of 300 mm.

"Then next, we will choose to develop the 122mm self-propelled howitzer!" Liu Tao pondered for a moment and then had a goal.

The 122mm self-propelled howitzer can be modified based on the Type 81 light tank. The chassis can directly adopt the chassis of the Type 81 light tank, and the engine does not need to be changed.

Of course, this does not mean that we can just replace the 105 tank gun with a 122mm howitzer.

There is still a big difference between the two.

The development time of this 122mm self-propelled howitzer is much longer than that of the Type 81 infantry fighting vehicle.

After several days of hard work, Liu Tao finally finished the Type 81 122mm self-propelled howitzer.

In fact, China also has its own self-propelled howitzers. The training outline of our army, which was learned from the Soviet Union, also inherited the Soviet artillery doctrine. In addition, we suffer from severe "fear of insufficient firepower", so our army attaches great importance to the construction of artillery units. In the 50s, a small number of ISU-152 self-propelled artillery were introduced from the Soviet Union. With the continuous expansion of the scale of our army's armored forces and the continuous improvement of the degree of mechanization, the towed artillery equipped by the artillery units became more and more discordant in the steel torrent of armored clusters. The early Soviet self-propelled artillery introduced was outdated and unusable, so in the late 60s, it was decided to develop a 122mm tracked self-propelled howitzer.

This is how we get the current Type 70 self-propelled artillery!
The Type 70 self-propelled artillery has very obvious features in terms of appearance, that is, an open-structured 1mm howitzer is installed at the rear of the armored personnel carrier chassis. The overall structure of the gun maintains the characteristics of the Type 122-63 armored personnel carrier. The armored body, power room, transmission room, driver's cab and co-driver's cab as well as the commander's position of the vehicle are no different from the Type 1-63 armored vehicle.

As for the main weapon system, it is a domestically produced Type 1-54 2mm howitzer.

The Type 70 122mm self-propelled howitzer weighs 15.3 tons, has a maximum road speed of 56 km/h, a maximum range of 450 km, a maximum climbing grade of 25 degrees, a maximum range of 11.8 km, and an ammunition reserve of 40 rounds!
In fact, the Type 70 122mm self-propelled howitzer has been outdated since its birth and cannot be compared with the world's top self-propelled howitzers.

The Type 81 122mm self-propelled howitzer developed by Liu Tao is different. It has a combat weight of 26 tons, a crew of 4+1, is equipped with a 650-horsepower diesel engine, a maximum speed of 75 km/h, a maximum range of 550 km, and an auxiliary weapon of 12.7mm heavy machine gun. It uses a new type of 122mm howitzer with advanced internal ballistic performance. The minimum range can reach 5.5 kilometers and the maximum range is 22 kilometers. It is equipped with an automatic loader, a maximum rate of fire of 6 to 8 rounds, a maximum ammunition capacity of 45 rounds, and a 360-degree firing range. There are 8 smoke bomb launchers on the left and right.

"It seems that we need to prepare a special factory to produce engines!" Liu Tao muttered to himself.

This Type 81 122mm self-propelled howitzer has definitely reached world-class level, with strong mobility and powerful howitzer.

But at the same time, Liu Tao suddenly realized that he might have to set up a special engine production factory because the demand for engines was so great.

As different types of armored vehicles are developed, the number of different types of diesel engines is increasing rapidly.

Originally, he was thinking of putting all the production in Factory 256, but now it seems that even Factory 256 may not be able to produce enough.

Fortunately, when other factories were designed, the production workshops were taken into consideration and there is a lot of space for modification, so it is not a big problem to use it to produce engines or these armored vehicles.

"System, analyze the Type 81 122mm self-propelled howitzer!" Liu Tao muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a series of design drawings appeared on the virtual panel in the corner of my eye.

After returning home, Liu Tao uploaded the design materials to the computer, then printed out five sets of design materials and set up a team to study and understand these drawings.

After making the arrangements, Liu Tao left Panshan Machinery Factory and started his monthly vacation.

The capital city in July already seems a bit hot.

However, because there is not so much car exhaust, the greenhouse effect is not so strong, and the temperature in Beijing is not as hot as it was 30 or 40 years ago. At least when Liu Tao was in the courtyard, he felt that it was okay not to turn on the air conditioner, and he didn't even have to turn on the electric fan at night.

Zhu Lin accompanied his wife for walks in the garden and stopped working to focus on taking care of the pregnancy. He usually watered the flowers, which made the flowers and plants in the garden grow better than before and the garden was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Maybe because he had a relatively privileged life since childhood, Zhu Lin's lifestyle is rather petty bourgeois.

My son Liu Jingming is almost 7 months old now and he looks quite smart.

Maybe it’s because of the blood connection, even though he just came back, the child is still very close to him.

"If you continue like this, he'll turn into a little fat boy." Liu Tao touched his son's calves. His arms, calves and face were all chubby and fleshy.

I originally thought that after I stopped breastfeeding, the little guy would lose weight.

But I didn’t expect that I didn’t lose any weight at all.

Now this little guy has started to eat fruit puree, vegetable puree, and meat puree.

"Your mom and my mom love it. They say it's so adorable." Zhu Lin held Liu Tao's hand with one hand and pinched her son's face with the other.

Liu Tao smiled bitterly, maybe the elderly all like this one.

Compared to his two older sisters' children, this little guy can be said to have been doted on since birth.

Almost everyone revolved around him.

"We will go to the department store tomorrow and I will buy some wool yarn to knit clothes, pants and socks for the children," said Zhu Lin.

Liu Tao nodded, "Okay."

Liu Tao got a jeep from Factory 256 for his own use. Although he paid for it himself, the car was still registered under the name of Panshan Machinery Factory because at that time, private individuals could not own a vehicle.

With a jeep like this, traveling will be much more convenient.

However, except Liu Tao and Liu Zhenbang, no one else can drive.

At this time, Zhu Lin was more than five months pregnant and her pregnancy began to show, but compared to the first pregnancy, the second pregnancy was obviously much easier.

And with the experience of having the first child, Zhu Lin's mentality is obviously different.

After taking a walk in the garden, Liu Tao's elder sister Liu Hongying was already calling for dinner.

They went to the restaurant, where the children were all washing their hands, looking very excited.

Compared to the Great Northern Wilderness, the conditions in the capital are much better.

Liu Tao's eldest sister Liu Hongying has been living in the Siheyuan since she returned to Beijing, helping Liu Tao take care of the children and cooking. Even his mother Chen Fang often lives in the Siheyuan, especially when Liu Zhenbang is on a business trip.

(End of this chapter)