Chinese ZBD-05 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to participate in Army Games 2016 Tass 52707163

Defence & Security News - Norinco
 
Chinese ZBD-05 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to participate in Army Games 2016
The ZBD-05 amphibious infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) of the Chinese People`s Liberation Army (PLA) have been dispatched to Baltiysk (Kaliningrad Territory) to participate in the Naval Landing 2016 competition (a part of the Army Games 2016 drills), according to a source in the Russian defense industry.
     
Chinese ZBD 05 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to participate in Army Games 2016 640 001
The ZBD-05 is an amphibious infantry armoured fighting vehicle base to the chassis of the ZBD2000 famlily
     
"The PLA`s crew will be driving Chinese ZBD-05 amphibious IFVs at the Naval Landing 2016 competition. The vehicles were delivered to Baltiysk in late July. The People`s Republic of China is the only foreign nation to use indigenous military hardware at the naval competitions of the Army Games 2016. ZBD-05 seems a robust IFV. However, I would not delude into thinking that the PLA has a crucial advantage over the other participants. I wonder if the Chinese crews would be able to win the second place, as they did at the Caspian Derby naval competition last year. The rivalry at the Naval Landing 2016 seems not to be a red-hot one. However, one should not underestimate the PLA and its efforts to get the prizes. Russia`s crews will have to take a tough ride to win the first place," the source said.

The ZBD-05 amphibious IFV was developed by the Norinco Corporation in the early 2000s. The vehicle was originally intended for the Marine Corps of the PLA`s Navy. The PLA brought ZBD-05 into service in 2006. The IFV has a combat weight of 26 t, a crew of three tankers, a passenger capacity of eight mounted soldiers, an operational range of 500 km, and a road speed of 65 km/h. According to Norinco, ZBD-05 features an extremely high swimming speed - about 45 km/h. The vehicle is powered by a diesel engine (550 h.p.). ZBD-05 has received single 30mm ZPT-99 automatic cannon (a non-licensed copy of the Russian 2A72 cannon) as the main weapon. It is complemented by HJ-73C (Red Arrow-73; a licensed copy of the Soviet 9M14-2M Malyutka-2M/AT-3D Sagger D missile) or HJ-8 (Red Arrow-8) anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). The secondary armament of the vehicle comprises a 12.7mm heavy machinegun or a 7.62mm machinegun mounted left to the main cannon. Norinco offers ZBD-05 to the potential foreign customers under the VN16 designation. Venezuela has become the first export customer for the vehicle, having ordered a batch of VN16s in 2015.
     
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