Type 55 (7.62 mm)
Contents
Description
The Type 55 tank machine gun (55式坦克机枪) was the Chinese licensed version of DT machine gun based on the excellent design of Degtyaryov machine gun design. Originally planned for domestic production of T-34-85 and also the replacement gun for any Soviet-built tanks armed with DTM in Mainland China service, due to the introduction of T-54A and subsequently the production of Type 59 in 1959, the gun is very likely been phrased-out by the SGMT equivalent - Type 59.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
| Gun characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Mass | 8.6 kg (empty) |
| Caliber | 7.62x54 mmR |
| Rate of fire | 600 |
| Overall length | 1138 mm |
| Ammo feed | fixed 63-round drum |
Available ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| AP-I | 13 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| T | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| AI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| API-T | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| AP-I | 818 | 0.01 | - | - | - | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
| T | 815 | 0.01 | - | - | - | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
| AI | 815 | 0.01 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
| API-T | 865 | 0.01 | - | - | - | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
Comparison with analogues
M1919A4 (.30-06; 7.62x63 mm)- American standard issue coaxial and anti-aircraft machine gun, has higher belt capacity than Type 55 while having lesser rate of fire.
BESA (.303; 7.7×56 mmR)- UK standard issue coaxial machine gun, also has higher belt capacity while sharing identical rate of fire.
MG34 (7.92x57 mm) - German GPMG for both infantry and armored vehicles, having much higher rate of fire and belt capacity.
Usage in battles
Like its Soviet counterpart, Type 55 is mostly designated for neutralizing enemy infantries or as a mean of suppressive fire against enemy fire positions, since it is now a coaxial machine gun for tanks, the covering issue for infantry is not a concern in this case. But just like other coaxial machine guns at similar caliber, it is only good for gunning down exposed crews of enemy vehicles and saving precious tank cannon for more tricky targets; while taking out enemy aircrafts is still possible, this will be a long shot attempt and it is better to leave them for the Type 53 DShK onboard instead.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Sufficient RoF for suppressing enemy light vehicles
- Rather generous overall ammo pool
Cons:
- Drum-fed ammunition with only 62 rounds per drum
- Harmless against armored targets
History
The Communist forces have been a long-time user of Degtyaryov DT series machine guns by the 1950s, they were also one of the weapon of choice for PVA during Korean War thanks to its excellent design and sufficient firepower; due to the needs to further increase the firepower of a fire squad, DPM was licensed to Chinese arsenals as the Type 53 machine gun. Meanwhile, domestic production of T-34-85 were also in progress by mid-1950s as part of the industrialization of Mainland China to further strengthen the PLAGF, thus the need for licensed DT was also in plan which can also serve as the replacement gun for any Soviet-aid tanks armed with this machine gun.
The result of this program was the Type 55 tank machine gun; while it has official PLAGF designation, due to the First Five-Year Plan and the eventual introduction of T-54A/Type 59, there were rather sparse information on the true usage of Type 55 and only very few of them are now in display.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Tank machine guns | |
|---|---|
| USA | |
| 7.62 mm | M37 · M60D · M73 · M240 · M1919A4 |
| 12.7 mm | FN M3P · M2HB · M80 · M85 |
| Germany | |
| 5.56 mm | MG4 |
| 7.62 mm | C6 · MG3A1 |
| 7.92 mm | MG13 Dreyse · MG34 · MG37(t) · MG42 |
| 12.7 mm | S.MG.50 |
| USSR | |
| 7.62 mm | DT · PKMB · PKT · PKTM · RP-46 · SGMT |
| 12.7 mm | DK · DShK · 6P49 · NSVT |
| 14.5 mm | KPVT |
| Britain | |
| 7.62 mm | Browning MG4 · L3A1 · L8A1 · L8A2 · L37A1 · L37A2 · L94A1 |
| 7.7 mm | Vickers |
| 7.92 mm | BESA |
| 12.7 mm | L21A1 |
| Japan | |
| 6.5 mm | Type 91 |
| 7.62 mm | Type 74 |
| 7.7 mm | Type 97 |
| 12.7 mm | Type 60 (B) |
| China | |
| 5.8 mm | QJT |
| 7.62 mm | Type 55 · Type 59 · Type 86 |
| 12.7 mm | QJC88A · Type 54 |
| 14.5 mm | QJG02 |
| Italy | |
| 7.62 mm | Beretta MG42/59 · FN MAG 60-40 |
| 8 mm | 34/40M · Breda Mod. 38 |
| 13.2 mm | Breda Model 31 |
| France | |
| 7.5 mm | AAT-52 · MAC 31 |
| 7.62 mm | A-A-F1N |
| 8 mm | Hotchkiss Mle 1914 |
| Sweden | |
| 6.5 mm | ksp m/14-29 |
| 7.62 mm | ksp 39 C · ksp 58 · ksp 94 |
| 8 mm | ksp m/36 · ksp m/39B |
| 12.7 mm | ksp 88 |
