In the middle of the last decade, a leading Chinese manufacturer of weapons and military equipment, NORINCO, created and tested a new self-propelled anti-aircraft gun designed to provide air defense of stationary objects. The new combat vehicle was supposed to protect airfields, headquarters, logistics centers, etc. At the same time, the possibility of escorting troops on the march was not considered. The wheeled chassis of the new LD-2000 installation (another name - Ludun-2000) was necessary exclusively for moving from position to position.
Despite this approach to the use of the new SPAAG, the Chinese designers have equipped it with an all-terrain chassis. The basis of the combat vehicle was the eight-wheeled all-wheel drive vehicle Wanshan WS-2400, which is a copy of the MAZ-543 vehicle. With such a base, the anti-aircraft self-propelled gun is capable of marches on the highway and, if necessary, on dirt roads or rough terrain. When preparing for duty or firing, the combat vehicle will stand on four outriggers, which allows it to remain stable during fire. It is this feature of the new ZSU that did not allow making it an element of military air defense. Nevertheless, the impossibility of firing on the move or without relatively long preparation did not prevent the LD-2000 from being offered for use in the defense of stationary objects.
A platform with a set of special equipment is installed on the base wheeled chassis WS-2400. In front of it there is a large armored superstructure, inside which is located the operator's cabin, an auxiliary power unit with a generator, electronic equipment, etc. There is a door on the starboard side for access to the cockpit. The exact composition of the electronic equipment is unknown, but there is some information about its architecture. The LD-2000 combat vehicle has its own Type 347G target tracking radar, which is used to guide the cannon. It also provides for the transfer of data from other machines, which allows the ZSU "Lyudong-2000" to be included in a unified air defense system.
At the rear of the platform, there is a rotary unit with a seven-barreled 30-mm "Type 730" cannon. According to reports, this unit is the Chinese version of the Dutch Goalkeeper complex, and the gun may be a copy of the American GAU-8 Avenger cannon. Based on this information, an assumption can be made about the characteristics of the gun. The original GAU-8 cannon has a rate of fire of at least 4000-4500 rounds per minute, and the installation can aim the weapon at a limited angle in the horizontal plane and from -10 ° to 80 ° in the vertical plane. There is no exact data on the possibility of shooting "through the cockpit". Due to the large superstructure, the firing zone in the front hemisphere is noticeably limited, which makes it possible to doubt such capabilities of the anti-aircraft self-propelled gun.
In the swivel gun mount, on the sides of the gun, there are two boxes for ammunition. Each of them holds 500 shells. The supply of ammunition to the gun is linkless. According to some sources, armor-piercing subcaliber projectiles fit into one box, and high-explosive fragmentation shells are stored in the second. Due to the choice of ammunition supplied, the LD-2000 combat vehicle is capable of hitting a target with a projectile of the type that will be most effective in a given situation. On the upper part of the rotary installation there is a target tracking radar antenna. It rotates along with the installation itself and is used exclusively to collect information about the movement of the target. The ZSU cannot independently find long-range targets and therefore is forced to use external target designation or an optical-electronic station mounted next to the antenna with a thermal imager and a laser rangefinder.
On the early prototypes of the ZSU "Lyudong-2000" modules for anti-aircraft guided missiles were installed on the sides of the rotary installation. Three transport-launch containers with TY-90 missiles were suspended on the characteristic hardpoints on each side. Subsequently, for technical reasons, they were abandoned, which is why the LD-2000 became a purely cannon anti-aircraft system. The use of missiles could increase the range to 5-6 kilometers, but due to the rejection of guided weapons, this parameter currently does not exceed 2500-3500 meters. Thus, the LD-2000 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is capable of protecting objects only from some targets that managed to break through other air defense means.
otvaga2004.ru
The announced structure of anti-aircraft batteries armed with a new ZSU directly speaks of the expected course of their combat work. So, for six combat vehicles with guns, there is one vehicle with a radar detection station and equipment for data transmission. If necessary, the battery can quickly go to another position. In this case, no more than three ZSUs are removed from the combat position and leave in the desired direction, while the rest of the vehicles, including the control vehicle, remain in place and continue their work.
At the end of the 2000s, the LD-2000 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was adopted by the Chinese army, at the same time the serial production of combat vehicles began. The exact number of self-propelled guns built, as well as the pace of production, were not announced. The same goes for the placement of the batteries they are armed with. It is reliably known only about the operation of the LD-2000 in the Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army of China. This information was made publicly available due to the fact that the transported equipment got into the lens of journalists. Other data of this kind remain secret.
