In the seventies of the last century, several ideas appeared in the leading countries of the world that determined the further development of tank building. The new main tanks were equipped with powerful combined armor and smooth-bore guns. In addition, the first models of reactive armor systems appeared. All this required improving the characteristics of anti-tank weapons, including artillery. At the same time, China began work on a promising third-generation tank. Chinese engineers saw all the new trends in the field of tank building and intended to take them into account in their next project. However, subsequent events led to the abandonment of the construction of a tank and the creation of a self-propelled artillery unit.
In the late seventies, the Chinese defense industry actively cooperated with the Western one, which helped the scientists and designers of the Asian state to create a number of new projects. In the project of a promising third-generation main tank, it was supposed to use a smooth-bore 120 mm gun. Initially, China planned to order a tank gun from Germany, but Rheinmetall, under pressure from the country's leadership, refused to supply. In this regard, Chinese specialists had to intensify work on creating their own weapons of the same class. Thus, as of the end of the seventies, China planned to create a tank with a smooth-bore 120 mm gun.
The development of the project for a new tank gun began in 1978. In just a year and a half, Chinese gunsmiths built the first prototypes of the gun. They were used in tests and allowed to identify the positive and negative aspects of the project. Nevertheless, for a number of reasons, in the early eighties, the command of the Chinese armed forces came to the conclusion that there are great prospects for tank guns of 125 mm caliber. The Chinese military received a Soviet T-72 tank from one of the Middle Eastern countries and studied it thoroughly. The result of such a study was the instruction to copy the 2A46 gun.
Simultaneously with the design of their own version of the 125-mm cannon, Chinese specialists continued the development of the project for the 120-mm gun. Works in this direction were continued by plant No. 774. In view of the good prospects, this project was not closed, but its new goal was to create a weapon for a self-propelled artillery installation. It took several years to complete the project of the gun and create the self-propelled gun: the first prototype of the Type 89 (PTZ89) self-propelled gun was put into testing in 1984.
The Type 321 tracked chassis was chosen as the base for the new self-propelled artillery / tank destroyer. This chassis is also used as the basis for the Type 83 self-propelled guns and Type 89 MLRS., a control compartment behind it and a fighting compartment in the stern. The Type 89 self-propelled gun was equipped with a 12-cylinder diesel engine 12150L with a power of 520 hp. With a combat weight of the vehicle at the level of 31 tons, such an engine provided a power density of the order of 16-17 hp. per ton of weight. The Type 89 tank destroyer could accelerate on the highway to a speed of 55 km / h. The fuel supply was enough for a march of about 450 kilometers. The undercarriage of the base chassis consisted of a drive wheel in the front of the hull, six road wheels and three support rollers on each side. The suspension of the road wheels is torsion bar.
Due to the limited capabilities of the base chassis, the Type 89 ACS received relatively weak armor. The plates of the welded hull and self-propelled turret have a thickness of no more than 50 mm. There is information about the use of protection modules installed on the tower. For additional protection, the combat vehicle was equipped with two blocks of smoke grenade launchers and thermal smoke equipment.
In the armored turret of a tank destroyer, located in the rear of the hull, a 120-mm smooth-bore gun with an ejector and a protective casing was installed. The gun has a barrel with a length of 50 calibers and is equipped with a semi-automatic ammunition dispensing system. The latter provides a rate of fire of up to 10 rounds per minute. Stowage inside the fighting compartment can hold 30 unitary shells of 120 mm caliber. According to some reports, if necessary, the Type 89 tank destroyer can fire, taking ammunition "from the ground". For this, the crew can use the hatch in the rear of the armored hull.
During tests, the 120-mm gun showed fairly high performance. The relatively long barrel of the gun made it possible to disperse armor-piercing sabot projectiles to speeds of about 1650-1660 meters per second. The maximum speed of the high-explosive fragmentation projectile reached 960 m / s. At the same time, the maximum firing range for armor-piercing and fragmentation projectiles is declared at the level of 2, 5 and 9 km, respectively. During tests of the finished gun, an armor-piercing projectile, according to available data, pierced a plate with a thickness of 450 mm from a distance of 2 km.
A characteristic feature of the main armament of the Type 89 self-propelled guns was "tank" aiming angles. Due to the specifics of the tasks performed, namely the attack of enemy armored vehicles, the Chinese tank destroyer can direct weapons at any angle in the horizontal plane, and the elevation and descent angles are limited and lie in the range from -8 ° to + 18 °.
Unlike other self-propelled guns created in the eighties, the Chinese Type 89 was not equipped with a fire control system. For aiming the gun, the combat vehicle was equipped with a combined gunner's periscopic sight with day and night channels. The gunner's sight was also equipped with a laser rangefinder. The self-propelled gun commander has a day sight. In addition, an auxiliary telescopic sight was installed in the front of the tower. As far as we know, no other systems typical of modern ACS have been used. Moreover, the Type 89 tank destroyer lacks even a gun stabilizer. In this regard, the self-propelled gun cannot fire on the move.
The additional armament of the Type 89 self-propelled guns consists of one 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, located on the turret above the commander's hatch, and one 7.62 mm machine gun. According to some sources, a rifle caliber machine gun is used as a coaxial one with a cannon.
Tests of the prototype Type 89 / PTZ89 tank destroyer took several months. Based on the results of running and firing tests, a decision was made on the need to continue work on the project. Some elements of self-propelled guns did not meet the requirements of the customer in the person of the Chinese armed forces. New tests began in 1987. The updated and improved version of the ACS suited the military. Serial production of Type 89 combat vehicles began in the last months of the 1988 year. Before the start of construction, the designers of plant No. 774 slightly changed the shape of the tower in order to simplify production.
In 1989, the first batch of 20 self-propelled artillery units was handed over to the Chinese armed forces. Soon, another 80 cars were built, after which their assembly stopped. The Type 89 tank destroyers were distributed among the anti-tank battalions of several tank divisions. Each battalion uses 18 self-propelled guns.
The Chinese project of the Type 89 self-propelled artillery unit, developed to combat modern (at the time of its creation) foreign tanks, looks interesting, but at the same time it is doubtful. The capabilities of the Chinese 120 mm smoothbore gun, created as a replacement for the inaccessible German-made guns, may speak of great achievements in the Chinese defense industry. In this case, the gun is actually the only positive side of the self-propelled gun. The relatively high characteristics of the gun under certain conditions can be completely leveled by the absence of an armament stabilizer and other equally important systems.
Another at least controversial feature of the Type 89 ACS is the ratio of firepower and the level of protection in the light of the tasks that this combat vehicle must solve. It is assumed that the Type 89 self-propelled guns should operate in the same battle formations with tanks and destroy enemy armored vehicles. At the same time, having a firepower comparable to that of tanks, self-propelled artillery installations noticeably lose to them in terms of protection. Thus, Type 89 tank destroyers risk being destroyed even before they approach enemy armored vehicles within effective fire range.
Despite the dubious combat qualities, the Type 89 self-propelled artillery unit remains in service with the People's Liberation Army of China. The total number of ACS of this type currently in operation does not exceed 90-100 units. Probably, such a small number of built tank destroyers was due precisely to ambiguous prospects. Nevertheless, at the end of the eighties, the command of the Chinese army decided to adopt the Type 89 into service. The reasons for this decision are not fully understood, but the constructed equipment is still in operation.
