Text/Junjian
The Afghan Taliban swept away the US military last year, and the situation in Central Asia is relatively stable, but Pakistan and Afghanistan often throw artillery battles at each other in the border area because of border disputes, and sporadic exchanges of fire occasionally occur.
(Pakistan's border area near Afghanistan)
Recently, in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, Taliban border guards opened fire on military positions in villages in Pakistan, causing casualties. The Pakistani army immediately sent additional artillery units to the border to counterattack and confront the Taliban.
Sharp-eyed netizens found that the Pakistani army this time seems to have pulled out China's domestic Type 54-1 howitzer, which was produced in the 80s of last century and has a history of about 40 years.
(Pakistan 54-1 howitzer)
(Type 54-1 howitzers appeared on the front line)
The Type 54-1 howitzer is actually very old and slightly outdated, because its range is about 10 to 12 kilometers, and the Pakistani army has to let it go deep into the front line in order to ensure the accuracy of its strikes. Atta was previously equipped with a large number of American weapons, and was also equipped with Soviet-made D-30 122mm howitzers, which had a range of up to 15 kilometers, which was obviously not an advantage for the Pakistani army.
(Data map: Soviet-made D-30 howitzer)
So is the Pakistani army too poor to afford good artillery, in fact, it is not, the reason why the Pakistani army did not send artillery with a longer range is probably also to control the situation. Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are also neighbors, the two sides mainly have disputes around the demarcation of the border "Durand Line", although there is friction, but it is not big, and neither side wants to make too ugly.
In fact, Pakistan considers its main enemy to be India in the south, not Afghanistan in the north. Therefore, Pakistan's firepower deployment is also mainly oriented to the south.
The Pakistani army is actually equipped with a large number of American-made artillery, but they are all old models, and the firing range is generally less than 30 kilometers. The real range of more than 30 kilometers is the 59-1 130mm cannon supplied by China, which uses bottom-row extended-range shells and can achieve a range of nearly 40 kilometers. And this artillery is also the main means for the Pakistani army to deal with the Indian army.
(India began to equip K-9 self-propelled guns, Modi test ride)
But since 2017, India has received 100 longer-range K-9 self-propelled guns from South Korea without speaking of martial virtue, in an attempt to establish a so-called "52x diameter advantage." The K-9 uses extended-range ammunition, which can range more than 50 km, which naturally pains Pakistan. In response, the Pakistani army also has to increase the corresponding means of strike, but Western countries want the Indian market more, so there are not many willing to help Pakistan.
(NORINCO exhibits SH-15 vehicle-mounted howitzer module solution)
At the 2018 Karachi Defense Showcase, NORIN's new SH-15 vehicle-mounted howitzer is highly mobile and can reach a range of 53 kilometers, enough to neutralize the K-9 threat.
Pakistan was so satisfied with the SH-15 vehicle-mounted howitzer that it immediately signed a contract with NORINCO in 2019 to introduce 236 SH-15 guns. At the beginning of 2022, the Pakistani army began to officially receive SH-15, and at least 14 SH-15 guns appeared at the service ceremony, indicating that the delivery speed is also very guaranteed.
(SH-15 vehicle-mounted howitzer of the Pakistani army)
Therefore, the real main artillery of the Pakistani army should be a model like the SH-15. As for pulling out the Type 54-1 howitzer to confront Atta, it was really just throwing artillery battles.