Saudi Arabia armed forces use Chinese-made PLZ45 155mm howitzer to fight rebels in Yemen 2604152
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Armies in the world - Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia armed forces use Chinese-made PLZ45 155mm howitzer to fight rebels in Yemen. | |||
A picture releases on Internet shows Saudi Arabia armed forces using the PLZ-145 or Type 88 Chinese-made 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer to fight Houthi rebels in Yemen. Now, the Chinese PLZ 45 is combat proven and Saudi Arabia armed forces are the first to deploy this type of vehicle on the battlefield.
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Saudi Arabia's army PLZ45 fires artillery shells toward Houthi rebels along the Saudi border with Yemen on April 15.
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In March 2015, Saudi Arabia released a statement on behalf of itself, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announcing that the Gulf states had launched an intervention at the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi. Three days later, Saudi spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri showed a slide claiming that 12 unidentified countries were involved in the operation.
While Brig Gen Asiri provided no further details on the coalition, the Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya had already reported that the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) had been joined by 30 jets from the UAE, 15 from Bahrain, 15 from Kuwait, 10 from Qatar, and six from Jordan, adding that Egyptian and Pakistani forces were also taking part in the operation. The PLZ 45 is also in service with army of Alegeria and Kuwait. In January 2014, the Want China Times website has announced the delivery of first batch of PLZ-45 to Alegeria. According the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Reserach Institute), China has delivered a total of 50 PLZ-45 to Algeria. The PLZ45 is the 155mm self-propelled gun-howitzer developed by NORINCO for the export market. The artillery system was jointly developed by the 123 Factory, 127 Factory, 674 Factory and Beijing University of Science and Technology. The PLZ45 beat the US and European competitors in a bid to provide self-propelled artillery systems for the Kuwait Army in 1997. Latest Internet source photos suggest that the artillery may have also entered service with the PLA. |
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Chinese-made PLZ45 or Type 88 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer
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Main armament of the the PLZ45 consists of one 155 mm/45 caliber ordnance with a slotted muzzle brake and a fume extractor. In travel position, the cannon is held in place by a manually released travelling lock mounted on the glacis plate.
The PLZ45 is fitted with a fire control system which includes an automatic laying system, optical sighting system, gun orientation with navigation system and GPS receiver. The 155 mm self-propelled gun-howitzer PLZ45 is fitted with an inertial direction-finder, a gun point display system and a gun display unit, with fire information coming from the battery or battalion command system. Standard equipment of the PLZ45 includes an auxiliary power unit, NBC system, an explosion detection and suppression system and a fire suppression system. |
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