Analysis: NORINCO heavy armored vehicles displayed at Zhuhai Airshow 2018.

At Zhuhai Airshow 2018, held in China from November 6-11, NORINCO made a live demonstration of its range of heavy vehicles.

MBT-3000 / VT4

The MBT-3000 also named VT4 for the export version is a new generation of main battle tank designed and manufactured by the Chinese Defense Company NORINCO. The main armament of the VT4 / MBT-3000 consists of a 125mm smoothbore cannon fitted with a thermal sleeve and fume extractor. It is fed by an automatic loader which holds a total of 22 projectiles and charges which can be loaded at the rate of eight per minute.

VT5

The VT5 is light weight main battle tank (MBT) designed and manufactured by the Chinese Defense Company NORINCO. The VT5 was unveiled to the public during the Zhuhai AirShow China in November 2016. The VT5 has been developed for the export market. The main armament of the VT5 consists of one 105 mm rifled cannon with thermal sleeve and fume extractor which has a maximum firing range of 3,000m.

VT2B

The VT2B is based on the VT2 , export variant of the Type 96G, which is in service in the Chinese army. The VT2B has a 125mm smoothbore cannon which is fed by an automatic loader that can carry up to 40 rounds. The main upgrade of the VT2B is the remotely-controlled weapon station on the turret along with some other improvements.

VN12

The VN12 is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle developed by Chinese company NORINCO. It is fitted with a 30mm automatic, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and external launch rail for HJ-73D ATGMs.

VN17

The Chinese-made VN17 tracked infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) was developed to meet the requirements of modern infantry unit. It offers high level of fire power, protection, mobility and communication systems for multi¬purpose operations. The performance of the VN17 is comparable to the German PUMA, the Swedish CV90 and other modern foreign tracked IFVs. The main armament of the VN17 tracked IFV consists of a 30mm automatic gun, a coaxial 7.62 machine gun and Red Arrow 12 ATGM launchers mounted on each side of the turret.

VN1

The VN1 is a wheeled armoured vehicle designed and manufactured in China by the Company NORINCO (North Industries Corporation) for the international military market. This vehicle is the export variant of the ZBL-09 (also called ZBD-09) 8x8 armoured vehicle personnel carrier. The VN1 can be fitted with a wide range of turret and weapon station which can be remotely controlled from inside of the vehicle. Armament can include 30mm automatic chain gun, Red Arrow 73 anti-tank guided missile system, 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.

VN2

The VN2 is a 6x6 amphibious armored personnel carrier, modernized version of the WMZ551. The VN2 can be fitted with diverse turret such as 1-man 30mm automatic cannon. The VN2 can be configured in many variants such as command vehicle, medevac etc.

CS/VN9

The CS/VN9 is a 6x6 armored personne carrier, based on the WZ 551 6x6 chassis, fitted with a remotely operated weapon station armed with a 30mm automatic cannon.