AirShow China 2018: Poly Technology Type 66 152mm 6x6 mobile gun howitzer.

Chinese Company Poly Technology unveils one new wheeled vehicle mounted Type 66 152mm gun howitzer during AirShow China 2018, Aerospace and Aviation Defense Exhibition that was held in Zhuhai from the 6 to 11 November 2018. The vehicle is based on a 6x6 cross country light truck chassis manufactured by the Chinese Company Xiaolong Automotive Technology Co., Ltd.

Poly Technology Type 66 152mm mobile gun-howitzer at AirShow China 2018, Zhuhai. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The Type 66 mobile gun howitzer is fitted with a four doors armor cabin mounted at the front of the chassis which provide a protection for the crew against small arms firing and shell splinters. The rear part of the vehicle is fitted with a Type 66 152mm howitzer, but it can be also fitted with the PL-96 122mm howitzer, a Chinese copy of the Russian towed howitzer D-30, in this configuration the vehicle is called SH2.

This mobile artillery howitzer has a crew of four and a combat weight of around 18,000 kg. It can fire at a maximum firing range of 22 km. Aiming of the artillery system can be performed in manual and automatic mode. It can come into action in less than 1 minute and come out of action in a similar period. The first shell can be fired in less than 30 seconds.

The vehicle is also is equipped with two hydraulically operated stabilizers mounted at the rear of the chassis which are lowered on the ground in firing position.

The Type 66 is the Chinese version of the Russian 152 mm gun-howitzer D-20. It differs in appearance from the original in few details. It has 152 mm /L26 ordnance and is capable of direct and indirect firing.

The Type 66 can fire different types of ammunition including fragmentation, High-Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG), High Explosive (HE), concrete-busting, and illumination rounds. China also developed number indigenous projectiles for this howitzer, including rocket-assisted projectiles.