While the Western Theater Command organized a high-altitude, full-unit firing training for the PCL-181 truck-mounted gun, a military trade news has attracted attention. According to foreign media reports, an 8-member delegation from the Bangladesh Army conducted detailed inspections and in-depth discussions on purchasing the SH-15 (the export version of the PCL-181) truck-mounted gun during their four-day visit to China, and also observed live-fire exercises on-site. This military procurement deal has been accelerated due to the impressive performance of the SH-15 in the recent India-Pakistan conflict (directly causing over 200 Indian casualties in a single day), showing Bangladesh's strong desire to purchase, and the transaction is expected to be finalized soon.

The Pakistani Army skillfully utilized the SH-15 truck-mounted gun, leveraging its excellent mobility and digital network combat capabilities, implementing night-time covert maneuvering, dispersed deployment, quick strikes and withdrawal tactics. With the support of drones and tactical networks, the SH-15 conducted precise and efficient joint fire attacks on Indian forward bases, causing significant losses of over 200 Indian casualties in a single day. This battle became the most powerful "advertisement" for the SH-15.

Almost simultaneously with the visit of the Bangladesh delegation to China, the Chinese Army's PCL-181 exercise in the plateau verified the potential of the truck-mounted gun as the future of artillery from another extreme environment. The exercise deliberately chose a high-altitude environment with thin air and bad weather to test the equipment's limits. The PCL-181 successfully overcame low temperatures, low oxygen levels, and complex terrain, relying on advanced onboard computers, reconnaissance systems, and tactical networks to achieve high-speed, high-precision strikes on targets at different distances and altitudes, even completing coordinated operations guided by drones. This outstanding performance under extreme conditions not only proved its strong adaptability but also perfectly interpreted the key model of modern artillery survival and victory: high mobility, dispersed deployment, and quick strikes and retreats.

Why is the SH-15 an ideal choice for Bangladesh? It reminds me of the Indian Army that was severely beaten in the India-Pakistan conflict. They have very advanced South Korean artillery, yet they were still brutally defeated by Pakistan.

80% of Bangladesh's territory is below 10 meters in elevation, with flat land but dense water systems. This geographical environment highlights the significant advantages of truck-mounted guns over traditional tracked self-propelled howitzers:

Firstly, mobility. The SH-15 and other truck-mounted guns use mature civilian truck chassis, allowing highway speeds to easily exceed 80-90 km/h, far surpassing tracked self-propelled artillery (usually only 50-60 km/h), greatly shortening the time required for unit transfer and deployment. Truck-mounted guns have a long range (over 600 km) and lower fuel consumption compared to heavy tracked chassis, significantly reducing the pressure on logistics support and operational costs.

Secondly, terrain adaptability. Truck-mounted guns require less road and bridge conditions than heavy tracked artillery. In the dense river network and muddy ground during the rainy season in Bangladesh, wheeled vehicles usually have better passability and are less likely to get stuck in mud. Although tracked vehicles have strong off-road capabilities, in this special terrain, their weight becomes a major burden, and they pose serious challenges to the load-bearing capacity of bridges.

The truck-mounted gun has the ability to "stop and shoot, shoot and run", and the hydraulic-assisted automatic/semi-automatic loading system allows it to enter and exit combat status much faster than tracked artillery that requires personnel to get out of the vehicle to operate (which still needs a considerable amount of time to set up or pack up). This is crucial for survival under modern counter-artillery fire threats.

More importantly, the cost-effectiveness advantage.

The SH-15 costs about $2.3 million per unit, far less than advanced tracked self-propelled howitzers that cost over $6 million each. The U.S. new M109A7 self-propelled howitzer costs as much as $10 million per vehicle, and the German Pzh-2000 self-propelled howitzer costs approximately $17 million per unit.

Truck-mounted guns are based on mature civilian truck technology, with a simple maintenance system, universal spare parts, and much lower lifecycle usage and maintenance costs compared to the complex, precision, and expensive tracked self-propelled artillery.

In short, the high mobility, rapid deployment/retraction capability, and powerful digital networked firepower control demonstrated by the SH-15 perfectly match Bangladesh's geographical environment needs.

The comprehensive advantages of the SH-15 truck-mounted gun over tracked self-propelled artillery in terms of mobility, cost, maintenance, and adaptability, combined with its high cost-effectiveness, excellent digital networked combat capabilities, and proven effectiveness in real combat, are paving a broad future path for truck-mounted guns in the international military trade market. The question in the title has already been answered: under modern battlefield environments and economic considerations, high-mobility, low-cost, and strong survivability truck-mounted guns are undoubtedly a better choice for representing the future development direction of artillery than traditional tracked howitzers.



Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7529747536257745442/

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