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Chinese army has take delivery of new 125mm cannon with the highest range in the world 12706154

Military Defense Industry Technology - New Chinese 125mm cannon

Chinese army has take delivery of new 125mm cannon with the highest range in the world.

Chinese army has take delivery of new 125mm cannon during a ceremony, Sunday, June 10, 2015. According Chinese sources, the cannon will have the highest range, velocity and penetration power of any 120mm/125mm cannon in the world.

The Chinese-made 125mm cannon

One quality that makes China's new canon so superior is its length. It has a length to caliber ratio of at least 60:1 – the longest tank gun in service is the German 120mm cannon, which has a ratio of 55:1, Popular Science reported. It also holds a larger cartridge, which stores more propellant explosives.

While the cannon is currently mounted on a towed carriage, several characteristics suggest that it is intended for tank turrets.

This multipurpose cannon reportedly has a muzzle velocity of 2,000 meters per second – almost mach 6 – for armored piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot rounds, whose discarding sabot concentrates the kinetic energy from propellant into frontal area of the penetrator rod, which is the size of a half dollar coin, Popular Science reported.

Just as importantly, the new tank cannon uses one-piece ammunition, as opposed to the two-piece ammo used currently by Chinese tanks. This older two-piece ammunition's rod is about half the length of the maximum 1200mm length for the new 125mm, one-piece shell. A larger rod means more mass, thus impacting enemy armor with more kinetic energy.

In theory, the cannon's high velocity gives it enough energy and range to serve in an anti-aircraft capacity. But more likely, it could provide indirect fire support with cannon-launched missiles and shells for Chinese forces, such as distant, networked infantry units calling in strikes on enemy positions.