Combat buses … The Chinese love of copying foreign military equipment is well known. And if we are not talking about direct copying, then at least about our own understanding of the concept. So, many Western experts considered that the 6x6 WZ-551 wheeled armored personnel carrier is a Chinese version of the French VAB armored personnel carrier. How much this statement is true is difficult to say, but definitely all three-axle wheeled armored personnel carriers in Spain, France and China outwardly resemble each other. And the French VAB 6x6 and the Chinese WZ-551 have a lot in common.
Debut of the WZ-551 armored personnel carrier
The first full-fledged appearance of the new Chinese armored personnel carrier in public took place in November 1986. At the international exhibition Asiandex, held in Beijing, one of the first 16 prototypes of the new Chinese wheeled armored personnel carrier was presented. The famous Chinese company NORINCO became the developer of the new armored combat vehicle. This large state-owned corporation, whose name is translated from the Chinese language as "China North Industrial Corporation", specializes in the production of military equipment. It is a very large Chinese car manufacturer developing both passenger cars, commercial vehicles and trucks.
It is not surprising that this company is responsible for the development of wheeled armored vehicles in the country. Initially, NORINCO specialists presented a whole line of combat vehicles. In addition to the 6x6 version, the 4x4 WZ-550 (primarily for police units) and the 8x8 WZ-552 version (as a base for placing heavy weapons, for example, 122-mm howitzers) were presented. The three-axle version became the main one and served as the basis for a huge number of combat vehicles from conventional armored personnel carriers armed with a large-caliber 12.7-mm machine gun, to wheeled infantry fighting vehicles with cannon armament (25-mm automatic cannon), ambulances, command-staff vehicles, as well as self-propelled mortars of 120 mm caliber and ZSU with a twin 23-mm artillery mount.
The new Chinese combat vehicle immediately attracted the attention of specialists. Many Western experts quickly recognized the French armored personnel carrier VAB (front-line combat vehicle) in the novelty. Created by engineers of Renault and Saviem companies by order of the French army, the VAB combat vehicle was put into mass production back in 1976. The armored personnel carrier was presented in three main versions - two-axle, three-axle and four-axle. In total, more than 5,000 thousand of these combat vehicles have been produced since 1976, most of which were supplied to the French army, and the rest were exported to at least 15 countries of the world.
In China, this combat vehicle was demonstrated in the early 1980s. The exhibition showed a model with a 6x6 wheel arrangement, armed with a French second-generation ATGM "HOT". At the same time, Renault and Euromissile, which showed the combat vehicle in the PRC, claimed that they did not sell to Beijing either the military equipment itself or the technical documentation for it. And yet, close acquaintance with the WZ-551 allows many experts to say that before us, if not twins, then the closest relatives. Although the Chinese press claims that the WZ-551 armored personnel carrier was developed in the Middle Kingdom by local engineers on the basis of a commercial heavy-duty truck "Tiema", however, using a power plant made in Germany. At the same time, the Chinese truck itself was built on the basis of the Mercedes-Benz 2026 truck.
Design features of the WZ-551 (Type 92) armored personnel carrier
The layout of the armored personnel carrier body is standard for combat vehicles of this class and repeats the layout of foreign three-axle counterparts. The body itself is made by welding from steel armor plates, which the designers have placed for better protection of the crew and units of the combat vehicle at rational angles of inclination. According to the developers, the armor of the WZ-551 is slightly better than that of the Type 63 tracked armored personnel carriers. As with most similar combat vehicles, the armor protects the crew only from small arms fire and small fragments of shells and mines.
In front of the hull of the Chinese wheeled armored personnel carrier, there is a control compartment, which contains the workplaces of the commander of the combat vehicle (on the right) and the driver (on the left). The control compartment is separated from the rest of the internal space of the armored personnel carrier by a sealed partition with a door. There are also two hatches in the roof above the commander's and mechanic's positions, which can be used to exit the combat vehicle. For an overview of the road and the terrain, the commander and driver use two large-sized bulletproof glasses located in the upper part of the frontal part of the hull, there are also bulletproof glasses on the sides, but smaller ones. In a combat situation, the glazing is covered with special armored shields, and to assess the situation, the crew uses prism observation devices located in front of the hatches in the roof of the hull.
The power plant is located in the middle of the body. At the same time, on the right side along the side there is a narrow manhole, which allows you to get from the control compartment to the troop compartment. The engine itself is located closer to the left side of the combat vehicle, the exhaust pipe is located on the same side, and the air intakes are located on the roof of the armored personnel carrier. The heart of the machine is a turbocharged, air-cooled diesel engine. This is a licensed copy of an 8-cylinder German diesel engine developing a maximum power of 320 hp. The engine is paired with an automatic gearbox: 5 speeds forward, one reverse. Engine power is sufficient to accelerate a combat vehicle with a combat weight of 12, 5 to 15, 8 tons to a speed of 90 km / h when driving on the highway. The power reserve is 800 km.
In the stern of the armored personnel carrier there is a troop compartment, which can accommodate from 9 to 11 people in full gear. The landing sites are located along the sides of the hull. For embarkation and disembarkation, motorized riflemen use a large door located in the aft armor plate. The door has an embrasure for firing personal weapons, as well as a block of observation devices. There are 4 more embrasures for firing personal weapons from each side. In the roof of the troop compartment, the designers placed 4 large hatches, which can also be used by motorized riflemen. In this case, the hatches can be fixed in an upright position so that they provide additional protection against enemy fire. On the sides of the troop compartment there are fuel tanks that can hold up to 400 liters of fuel, which also serve as additional protection.
On the roof of the troop compartment, which is combined with the combat one, the armored personnel carriers have a standard turret with a large-caliber 12.7 mm machine gun. The machine gun is served by one of the shooters. This is a standard heavy machine gun turret that is widely used on Chinese tracked armored personnel carriers. For additional protection, it is covered with armored shields that protect the shooter from bullets and small fragments. Standard ammunition for a 12.7 mm machine gun is 500 rounds. The version with machine-gun armament is designated as Type 92A (ZSL-92A), with a cannon - with a 25-mm automatic installation - Type 92 (ZSL-92). The cannon-armed version is often referred to as a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle.
Type 92 armored personnel carriers have a 6x6 wheel arrangement with all drive wheels, two front axles are steered. The combat vehicle received a centralized tire inflation system. At the same time, the manufacturer guarantees that even if the tires are damaged by bullets or shrapnel, the armored personnel carrier will be able to travel up to 100 kilometers at a speed not exceeding 40 km / h. At the same time, the armored personnel carrier is amphibious, for movement on water there are two propellers located along the sides in annular channels in the aft part of the hull. They can rotate 180 degrees, which provides the armored personnel carrier with good maneuverability on the water. The maximum speed of movement on the water surface does not exceed 8.5 km / h.
The potential of the WZ-551 armored personnel carrier
It is noteworthy that the combat vehicle, developed in the early 1980s, was the first to enter service with the 127th Motorized Infantry Division from the Jinan Military District. This unit is considered one of the elite military units in the PLA. This at least speaks of the demand for this military equipment and that the Chinese army was waiting for the appearance of such combat vehicles.
Regardless of whether China copied the development of French engineers and designers or not, the Chinese armored personnel carrier WZ-551 (Type 92) turned out to be in the same demand on the international arms market as the French VAB. The model has achieved particular success in the market of countries that are accustomed to counting every penny in armament costs. Africa and Asia are traditional sales markets for Chinese weapons. More than 20 foreign countries around the world have already purchased Type 92 armored personnel carriers, as well as combat vehicles on this wheelbase. And even though some of them purchased equipment by the piece or by several dozen units, the indicator is still worthy.
The largest operators of this armored vehicle outside China are Sri Lanka - 190 combat vehicles, Myanmar - 76, Oman - 50 and Chad - 42. Also, these armored personnel carriers were supplied to Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Pakistan, Iran, Tanzania and other states … The Chinese army is armed with about 1800 such combat vehicles in various versions with both machine-gun and cannon armament.
