The
ZLC2000 (industrial designation: WZ506) is the airborne
infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) developed by NORINCO
for the PLA airborne forces. The vehicle is capable
of air dropping using multiple parachutes from medium
or large transport aircraft. The vehicle has been
in service with the PLAAF Airborne Corps since 2003,
and was spotted during the ‘Peace Mission
2005’ China-Russia joint exercise. The deployment
of the ZLC2000 has greatly enhanced the offensive
capability of the PLA airborne forces. Despite the
speculations that the vehicle might be a copy of
the Russian BMD-3, close examinations of the vehicle
indicated that it is in fact a new design with different
hull layout and weapon system. The Chinese 30mm
cannon differs to the Russian design used by the
BMD-3. It is possible, however, that the vehicle
contains certain Russian technologies, particularly
the multiple parachute air dropping system. It was
reported that the vehicle was made in at least three
versions: command and control, IFV, and ATGM carrier.
The command and control version features a higher
rear hull to accommodate staffs.
Variants
:
Command
post:the back side is more higher, for a
command post installation Anti-tank: with anti-tank missile
HJ-8
The
IFV model is fitted with a one-person turret
armed with a 30 mm dual-feed cannon, 7.62
mm coaxial Machine Gun (MG) and a roof-mounted
Red Arrow Type 73C Anti-Tank Guided Weapon
(ATGW) with an enhanced guidance system.
The ATGW has a maximum range of 3,000 m
and latest versions of the missile can be
fitted with various types of warhead.This
turret has already been marketed by NORINCO
under the name of Red Arrow 73 Missile/30
mm Gun Combined Turret Weapon Module (GCTWM).
This has 350 rounds of ready use. There
are two sets of three-barrel smoke grenade
on each side of the turret.
Protection
The
vehicle’s armour protection is limited
by its weight restrictions for air dropping.
With a combat weight of 8 tonnes, the vehicle’s
armour is supposed to be thin and can only
resist small calibre weapons. the overall
layout of the AAV ZLC 2000 is conventional,
with the driver seated front-left and diesel
power pack to the right, one-person turret
in the centre and the troop compartment
at the rear.The driver is provided with
a single-piece circular hatch cover that
opens to the left and to the front are day
periscopes. The centre one can be replaced
by a passive vision device for night driving.
Propulsion
The
power pack is installed at the front right
of the vehicle and the driver’s hatch
at the front left, directly in front of
the commander’s hatch which mounts
an optical sight with night vision input.
The vehicle has five unevenly spaced road
wheels on each side, with three track support
rollers, a front drive sprocket and a rear
idler. The suspension is of a hydro-pneumatic
type and can be adjusted to suit the type
of terrain being crossed. During the air
dropping, the tracks of the vehicle was
retracted to the minimum position to reduce
the impact during landing.
Accessories
The
vehicle is possibly fully amphibious, propelled
through water by its tracks. The vehicle
can be air-dropped from transport aircraft
such as IL-76MD without a pallet. Each IL-76MD
can carry up to three vehicles. The vehicle
crews and passengers are dropped separately
from the passenger hatches of the aircraft.
Specifications
Armament
One
30mm cannon; one coaxial
7.62mm machine gun; one
HJ-73 ATGM launcher (3 missiles)
Pakistan
plans to conduct another test of tactical missile Nasr (Hatf IX) in
May 2012 able to carry a nuclear warhead, said Saturday, May 19, 2012,
the television channel Geo TV. According to the channel, the Pakistan
army is fully ready to test.
