PCL-181, the Best Truck Gun? Chinese howitzer deployed to Tibet plateau, next to India

The Chinese PCL-181 howitzer is known as the “truck gun“ in social media. It is considered by some the best truck-mounted 155mm howitzer in the world. The PCL-181 is the most up-to-date 155mm artillery system in China. The PCL-181 utilises a five-ton Wanshan military truck chassis, carrying a 155 by 52 millimetre howitzer and the entire gun crew, plus a limited amount of ammunition. The gun is supported by a reconnaissance vehicle, a weather station vehicle, a command vehicle, and other specialised vehicles. The PCL-181 is equipped with a sophisticated fire-control system and can fire a full range of domestically developed 155mm munitions, including the latest ultra-long range 155mm high-precision guided shells with a range of up to 50km. And it is one of the rare truck-based howitzers that can fire horizontally with reduced recoil, making it ideal to combat approaching enemy vehicles and targets at various altitudes of mountain terrain. This is a very unique feature, highly valuable in the border area close to India. To ensure its stability when firing at low angles, the PCL-181 for the first time adopts hydro-pneumatic suspensions, lowering the chassis height and reducing the fire line height. It also helps to increase off-road capability. The PCL-181 wheeled howitzer adopts the “squat“ rear layout placing the gun system directly on the ground, instead of going through the truck chassis to make contact with the ground. This again greatly reduces height of the firing line, optimizing recoil reduction design. The truck has a speed of 100 kilometers per hour on highways and sufficient off-road performance. Due to the fact it does not have full armor protection, it is light in weight and can be easily deployed by military cargo planes. The PCL-181 benefits from a high level of battlefield information integration design, able to pull data directly from the command center, reconnaissance drones, and other vehicle platforms. This howitzer has been deployed to the border region close to India. The gun has a semi-autoloader. Most of the procedures are carried out by hydraulic power, including loading the ammunition into the chamber. The PCL-181 has been exported to Pakistan. Chinese Military News: China Air Force: Chinese space exploration: Photo and video: Wiki common,