According to Iraqi media reports, the official propaganda film of the Iraqi Army recently showed some fashionable 6 by 6 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles. When the news came back to China, everyone recognized it at a glance, isn't this the VN-22 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle manufactured by China Ordnance Industry and exhibited at the 13th Zhuhai Air Show in 2021.
According to Iraqi information, the Iraqi army not only purchased some finished VN-22 products, but even purchased assembly lines, imported parts from China to assemble by themselves, and the number of equipment will be relatively large...... Well, how to evaluate the VN-22 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles equipped with the Iraqi army?
Performance of the VN-22
There is no doubt that there is absolutely no problem with the technical and tactical performance of the vehicle, and in longitudinal comparison, it is a generation ahead of the ZSL-92/B series wheeled infantry fighting vehicles previously equipped by the Chinese Army. Judging from the performance of the ZSL-92/B armored car in the early 90s of the last century, the car is based on the product taken out of the WZ-551 project.
The Chinese ZSL-92 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, which is commonly known as the "92 infantry battle"
For example, in terms of body and power design, the ZSL-92 wheeled armored car uses the classic design of the front cockpit and power compartment, and the rear fighting compartment, with a total combat weight of about 16 tons, and a BF8L413FC 8-cylinder air-cooled supercharged diesel engine with a power of 320 horsepower and a power-to-weight ratio of about 20. This data can only be said to be in the second generation of wheeled armored vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles, focusing on reliability.
For example, in terms of protection and fire control system performance, the ZSL-92/B wheeled armored vehicle uses an ordinary steel welded body, and its bulletproof ability is relatively average, and the front can prevent direct fire from the Soviet 7.62 mm steel core bullet, and the side can prevent direct fire from the Soviet 7.62 mm ordinary bullet, and the whole vehicle can prevent mortar and howitzer fragmentation killing, which can only be said to be very general.
Its firepower and fire control system are also mediocre, with a penetrating vehicle-mounted weapon station consisting of a ZPT-90 25mm cannon and a 7.62mm vehicle-mounted parallel machine gun. The former is equipped with shell-piercing shells or anti-explosive shells, the rate of fire is adjustable in two gears, the firing mode can be selected as spot fire, single shot or burst fire, etc., the turret is equipped with a projectile remainder indicator, and the ammunition is fed through two ammunition boxes.
The fire control system is also only a simple high-level dual-purpose periscope optical sight, which basically does not have the ability to fight at night, nor does it have the ability to shoot at home, and the previous ZSL-92/B can theoretically be equipped with Red Arrow-73B series anti-tank missiles, but it seems that it is rarely carried in actual combat.
Therefore, judging from the performance of the previous generation of 6 by 6 platform ZSL-92 / B wheeled armored vehicles equipped by the Chinese Army, the main focus is on whether it can be used and solves problems. After all, in the 90s of the last century, you expect us to have how much money we can buy tall equipment, which is unrealistic. The emergency combat tasks of the troops are very heavy, and the goal of realizing mechanization is even more urgent, coupled with the need to build a rapid reaction force that can rely on highways to carry out all-domain mobility, so the ZSL-92/B has been used as an emergency equipment for many years.
In contrast, the VN-22, as a new generation of 6 by 6 chassis products launched by Continental Ordnance Industry, has much higher performance.
For example, in terms of body design, compared with the ZSL-92/B, which is actually an armored truck, the VN-22 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle uses advanced central transmission system design, V-shaped bulletproof body technology, oil and gas suspension technology, etc. In particular, the overall performance of the car's oil and gas suspension technology is very advanced, and the cylinder stroke difference can reach 400 mm, which greatly improves the vehicle's ability to pass on complex terrain.
In terms of power system, VN-22 is equipped with an advanced power and transmission integrated power package, it is said that the power system power reaches 820 horsepower, which is significantly higher than that of ZSL-92 / B wheeled armored vehicles, even if the combat weight of the car is said to be greater than 20 tons, reaching about 25 tons, and the power-to-weight ratio has reached more than 30, compared with ZSL-92 / B wheeled armored vehicles and even ZBL-08 series 8 by 8 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, they have reached the level of technical crushing, and it is completely the next generation of power systems.
The VN-22 is more powerful for its protection, fire control, and armament systems.
For example, in terms of protection capabilities, the VN-22 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle can achieve frontal defense against the Su 14.5 mm machine gun in the effective range of direct fire using armor-piercing bullets, and the side is said to be able to defend against the Su 14.5 mm machine gun using ordinary bullet direct fire, the hull is omnidirectional to prevent large-caliber grenade fragmentation killing, and the chassis is said to be able to defend against 2 kg of explosives.
For example, in terms of fire control and fire system, the VN-22 can be equipped with a variety of turrets, such as the highest configuration, which has been exhibited at the Zhuhai Air Show, and is equipped with a new generation of non-penetrating integrated weapon station, which is equipped with a 30 mm chain gun and a 7.62 mm parallel machine gun, and is also equipped with a new generation of general-purpose vehicle-mounted anti-tank missiles.
In terms of fire control system, the VN-22 is equipped with a complete set of advanced non-penetrating optoelectronic fire control systems, which have all-weather combat capabilities and dynamic and static strike capabilities, and the performance of these fire control and fire systems also far exceeds that of the ZSL-92 armored vehicle.
The current state of the Iraqi Army
Judging from the current situation of the Iraqi Army's equipment, since its reconstruction, the Iraqi Army has shown an obvious status quo of heavy main battle tanks and light infantry fighting vehicles in terms of armored combat equipment.
For example, in terms of main battle tanks, in addition to receiving more than 300 M1A1 main battle tanks from the United States, the Iraqi Army also purchased a batch of T-90A main battle tanks from Russia, and also repaired hundreds of T-72M/M1 main battle tanks left by Saddam Hussein. This has brought the scale of the Iraqi Army's main battle tanks to nearly 1,000, and most of them are relatively advanced third-generation main battle tanks.
But in terms of infantry fighting vehicles, it is very lackluster, the main force is still the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles left over by Saddam Hussein, and some M113A2 tracked armored vehicles obtained from the United States. In terms of wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, the Iraqi army only has some things such as the M1117 security armored vehicle, or the Maxxpro anti-ambush vehicle, and even got a batch of BTR-4E wheeled infantry fighting vehicles from Ukraine.
Of course, the Iraqi Army, after trying out the BTR-4E, decided that the car was poorly manufactured, that its performance did not meet the nominal requirements, and that it was simply a pile of armored junk. With the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, although the order for BTR-4E has not yet been executed, it is impossible to continue to execute.
Therefore, from the current situation of the Iraqi Army's armored combat equipment, there is a lack of infantry fighting vehicles, especially wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, and the arrival of VN-22 perfectly solves this problem faced by the Iraqi Army, which is a serious wheeled infantry fighting vehicle.
In terms of protective performance, it is comparable to or even slightly exceeds the Iraqi Army's previous pile of anti-ambush vehicles, and even slightly exceeds some of the Iraqi Army's tracked armored transport vehicles, and in terms of passing performance, it far exceeds that of the pile of anti-ambush vehicles that can only rely on highways to carry out maneuvers, and has a certain field offensive and defensive capability.
Of course, in terms of firepower and fire control system performance, the Iraqi army does not seem to have chosen the tall 30mm chain gun and the universal vehicle-mounted anti-tank missile, but instead chose the relatively cheap semi-open turret with a three-barreled rotary tube Gatling gun mounted on the turret. This may be because the Iraqi army does not have much need to carry out armored warfare offensive and defensive against strong opponents, and basically encircled and suppressed terrorist groups in the desert areas in the northwest, and the firepower is somewhat excessive if it needs 30mm machine guns, and it is enough for Gatling guns.
Finally, I heard that the Iraqi Army, in addition to getting the production line of the VN-22 wheeled infantry fighting vehicle from China, also got some other good things. For example, the CQ-B 5.56mm assault rifle production line of the Ordnance Industry, and even some shiny 56-2 assault rifles, and it is also reported that the Iraqi Army has also obtained some bullet production lines from China, which can produce 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition on its own.
Coupled with the VN-22 infantry fighting vehicle, it can be said that the Iraqi Army has completely mechanized light weapons, light weapons and ammunition, and large combat equipment such as wheeled infantry fighting vehicles. For the Iraqi Army, it seems to mean a shift in the channels of arms acquisition, and even more so for our foreign arms trade.
We now feel that the Iraqi Army will need to replace its tracked infantry fighting vehicles next, after all, how old the BMP-1 and M113A2 are, and even tanks like the T-72 have to be replaced. Therefore, we should have room to play in the next arms trade of the Iraqi Army, let's wait and see.