105mm Type 75 Chinese HEAT Projectile

(CATUXO)

Type 75 105mm Recoilless Gun

(http://www.army-guide.com)
The Type 75 105mm recoilless gun was developed
in the mid-1970s for the PLA. Mounted on a Beijing
BJ2020S (BJ212) 4X4 lightweight vehicle, the Type
75 is designed to provide a lightweight, selfpropelled direct/indirect fire against enemy
personnel, field fortifications, and light armoured
vehicles. The weapon was fielded by the PLA
ground forces in mass numbers, with a
considerable number of them still in active service
today.
The design of the Type 75 105mm recoilless gun
was certified in 1975, and the weapon entered
service with the PLA ground forces in the same
year. The 105mm weapon is much heavier than the
82mm recoilless gun and can only be carried and
fired onboard the vehicle. The Type 75 is mainly
fielded by motorised infantry regiments stationed in
northern regions, and airborne divisions. It is found
in gun companies of artillery battalions organic at
motorised infantry regiment or airborne division
level. Each gun company has six Type 75 guns.

The Type 75 is effective against enemy personnel, bunkers, fortifications, and light armoured vehicles. The
weapon can be used for either direct or indirect fire. Its shape-charge warhead has limited armour
penetration capability, thought it poses little or no threat to heavy armour target such as main battle tanks
(MBT). The weapon makes huge sound and backblast effects when firing, significantly increasing its
chance of being detected and located by enemy. Therefore its basic tactic is to fire and run to avoid
enemy counter fire.
The Type 75 is widely equipped by the PLA airborne forces due to its light weight. The vehicle can be
airlifted by medium transport helicopters and fixed-wing transport aircraft, but it cannot be air-dropped by
parachutes.
The Type 75 is basically a recoilless gun mounted on a lightweight 4X4 vehicle, with no protection for the
crew and ammunition. Early variant Type 75 is carried by a BJ212 but on later variant this was replaced by
an improved BJ2020S version. The vehicle has a driver seat and five crew seats. The front windscreen is
split to mount the gun barrel. The vehicle is shorter than the basic variant vehicle.
The main weapon is a 105mm recoilless rifled gun firing High-Explosive (HE) and Fin-Stabilised HighExplosive Antitank (FS-HEAT) rounds. The gun is manually operated by 4~5 crewmembers. If necessary,
the gun can also be dismounted from the vehicle and carried by the crew over a short distance. The
vehicle carries 6~7 rounds.
Early variant was fitted with an optical sight, but this was replaced by a primitive fire-control comprising
optical sight, laser rangefinder, and fire-control computer.