The new 82 mm recoilless gun
Recently, China's new generation of 82 mm light recoilless guns was exposed, and Hebei Yanxing Machinery Co., Ltd., the only recoilless gun production plant in the mainland, recently released their latest "individual artillery". This latest 82 mm light recoilless gun is the most advanced Gustav gun in foreign countries and is the fifth generation of Recoilless Gun in China.
Carbon titanium alloy barrel
In the information released by Hebei Yanxing Machinery Company, the various parameters of this gun are still a mystery, but according to the information that has been disclosed so far, we can still determine many characteristics of this gun. The most noteworthy thing about this gun is its luxurious carbon titanium alloy barrel. Titanium is a very expensive metal, although China's titanium reserves are not small, but because of its mining, smelting difficulties, the price of titanium has been high.
Historically, weapons made of titanium have not been lonely and nameless. For example, a peak in the history of reconnaissance aircraft, the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, the fuselage has a large number of titanium alloys. Another example is the Komsomolskaya nuclear submarine, which created the record for the largest deep diving of nuclear submarines in the Soviet Union, which is a nuclear submarine with a hull made entirely of titanium. Just as the so-called good steel should be used on the blade, such an expensive metal is almost impossible to use on low-end weapons.
But China's new 82mm recoilless gun is obviously an exception, as an artillery, the use of titanium alloy is still too luxurious. However, from the name of its "carbon and titanium alloy gun barrel" and China's "savings" in the military field, this titanium alloy is most likely not a titanium alloy as we understand it. Perhaps China has mastered some new smelting technology, and only needs to use very little titanium to achieve the performance of conventional titanium alloys. Or maybe the barrel is similar to "copper-clad steel", with only a layer of titanium on the surface.
In fact, in the first half of 2019, many reports about "carbon titanium alloy gun barrels" were circulated on the Internet. At that time, the news that China wanted to study a new generation of recoilless guns was spreading, and it was said that this recoilless gun should use a cartridge charge to achieve the integration of the body tube without a slope, and the medicine room and the body tube. This structure has high requirements for the material of the barrel, the material is not passed, and the barrel is easy to explode. Therefore, from this structural point of view, the strength of the "carbon titanium alloy barrel" should be up to standard.
The new recoilless gun replaces the 120 bazooka
In addition to the problem of the barrel, the characteristics of this gun can be seen at present are light and versatile. Titanium alloy is much lighter than steel of the same volume, and the new 82 mm recoilless gun using carbon titanium alloy has a great advantage in weight. Judging by its weight, this artillery was most likely born to replace the mainland's old 120 bazooka.
China's PF98 type 120 mm anti-tank rocket launcher has a strong anti-armor and fortification destruction capability, which is the most important means for Chinese infantry teams to attack the stronghold. But the bazooka's flaws are equally huge, that is, the weight is too large. The 120 bazooka is 10 kilograms in size alone, counting ammunition, and can directly account for the armament of 2 to 4 infantry. Therefore, the birth of the new 82 recoilless gun is very likely to quickly replace the 120 bazooka in the future.
In terms of versatility, foreign Gustav guns can hold more than ten kinds of shells. Since the new 82 recoilless gun of the mainland is a benchmark Gustav gun, it must be able to carry many types of shells. Functionally, the new 82 recoilless gun also has an advantage over the 120 bazooka.