Artillery Lovers Group
Hobbies & Interests
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons. These engines comprise specialised devices which use some form of stored energy to operate, whether mechanical, chemical, or electromagnetic. Originally designed to breach fortifications, they have evolved from nearly static installations intended to reduce a single obstacle to highly mobile weapons of great flexibility in which now reposes the greater portion of a modern army's offensive capabilities.
The PLZ-45 is a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer used by the People's Liberation Army of China, the Bangladesh Army, the Kuwaiti Army, the Saudi Arabian Army, and possibly the Pakistani Army.
The system was designed by Su Zhezi [苏哲子] of 674 Factory, and developed by Norinco, 123 Factory (Heilongjiang Hua’an Industry Group Company--黑龙江华安工业集团公司), 127 Factory (Tsitsihar Heping Machine Shop--和平机器制造厂), 674 Factory (Harbin First Machine Manufacture Limited Company 哈尔滨第一机器制造厂) and Beijing Institute of Technology. It is based on Norinco's Type 89 (PLL01) 155mm/45-calibre towed gun-howitzer.
Saudi Arabia has purchased the howitzer and is expected to become a major user.
Confirmed Operators
* Bangladesh
* China
* Kuwait
* Saudi Arabia
Potential Operators
* Egypt
* Pakistan
* Peru