ZPZ02 (30 mm)

The 30 mm ZPZ02 on the QN506 gun mantlet.

Description

The ZPZ02 (Chinese: ZPZ02式30毫米机炮) is currently the designated caliber for PLAGF/PLANMC's IFVs that are equipped with 30 mm autocannon, which is based on the 2A72 imported alongside with the BMP-3 turret system. The standalone version with only the 30 mm autocannon is named ZPT99 and has been used since the early 2000s; although sharing mostly identical performance to Russian counterpart, Chinese developed both APDS and APFSDS for the gun, further boosting its combat capability.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• QN506

General info

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Available ammunition

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Comparison with analogues

2A72- its technological ancestor, sharing mostly identical performance while ZPZ02 has APDS/APFSDS at its disposal.

2A42- the heavier 30 mm autocannon used by BMP-2 and Mi-28; has access to more powerful APFSDS at over 100 mm penetration.

Usage in battles

Currently, the gun is only deployed on QN506 fire support vehicle; as part of its weaponry system, although there are dozens of missiles onboard, the gun is a good option to take down light vehicles thanks to its rate of fire; thanks to the APDS/APFSDS as researchable, they they can tear down MBTs from their sides - in most cases, the penetration is more than enough to take them down right with a few bursts aside from Israeli MBTs with relatively thick side armor.

But one thing is certain for ZPZ02: the turrets that housed this autocannon, especially ZPT99 turret system, cannot survive from even HMG fire due to its lightweight design. So be careful where to deploy the carrier vehicle itself and hide from enemy gunfire as soon as they have spotted the vehicle- the turret is very unlikely survive a direct hit from any cannon shells.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Sufficiently fast traverse speed
• Equipped with both APDS/APFSDS that are lack on Russian counterparts

Cons:

• Relatively slow rate of fire
• The turret system is rather unprotected and prone to critical damages

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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• topic on the official game forum;
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China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 85
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type-62-85-TC · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)