L/54 (125 mm)

Description

The 125 mm L/54 cannon equipped on the WZ1001(E) LCT prototype was part of the experiment of WZ1001 (future ZTZ99A) to further increase the firepower of new MBT while maintaining identical caliber to future PLAGF MBTs; although the program was ditched due to limited improvements and shorten barrel life, the slightly increased penetration and velocity can help long-range engagements.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• WZ1001(E) LCT

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

Comparison with analogues

• Rh120 L/55 and L/55 A1 - the longest NATO standard cannon with superior penetration but lesser velocity.
• 2A46M-5 - Russian 125 mm equivalent to PLAGF cannon at slightly higher penetration but lesser velocity.
• CN120-26 F1 - French 120 mm NATO standard cannon at slightly lower penetration and lesser velocity.
• OTO Breda 120/44 - Italian 120 mm NATO standard cannon at higher penetration but much less velocity.
• M256 and MG251 - US and Israeli 120 mm NATO standard cannon at higher penetration but much less velocity.
• L30A1 - British 120 mm NATO standard cannon at lower penetration and much less velocity.

Usage in battles

Players who have used the previous ZPT88C and ZPT98 would likely have no problem transferring from the shorter barrel 125 mm cannon to the longer variant; thanks to the additional length for the L/54 cannon, the new gun further increases the penetration and velocity of Chinese domestic shells at a slight but welcomed rate. But just like most PLAGF MBTs, beware of any breech damage from enemy attacks and hide the cannon as much as players can due to the additional section of cannon that peeks out from the safe cover.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Sufficient gun traverse speed
• Improved penetration and velocity to previous PLAGF tanks

Cons:

• One of the longest cannon in-game with risk of damage behind cover
• Mantle protection problem still haunts the survivability of cannon

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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