As the representation of PLAGF transformation from Warsaw Pact caliber to NATO caliber howitzer, the PLZ05 is the earlier variant of its family with basic digitized equipment. The hybrid of Russian carousel autoloader and NATO caliber howitzer is what makes PLZ05 unique among its counterparts; the introduction of this artillery piece also fills a gap in Chinese tech-tree with a long-anticipated SPH equivalent to NATO counterparts.
| Pros: | Cons: |
| Devastating firepower with SAPCBC for internal damages to enemies | Huge profile that can be identified even from kilometers |
| Good artillery chassis platform with sufficient mobility and hydropneumatic suspension | Large-size autoloader with high chance of detonation once penetrated |
| The earliest vehicle in game to receive spall liner for turret crews | Default depression angle doesn’t provide enough line-of-fire at complicated terrain |
| Smoke grenades to conceal from enemies | |
| LRF for long-range engagements |
Survivability
When talking about the survivability of an SPH, players might take examples like Type 75 or M109 series as the baseline — or in short, poor protection only rated for rifle-caliber gunfire. If players take a few seconds to inspect PLZ05 in both protection and interior X-ray view, they will spot something very different from any previous Chinese vehicles, or perhaps by its tiers, namely the spall liner for the turret crew. Not only is it the very first Chinese vehicle to have such improvements, it is also currently the earliest vehicle in terms of battle rating to receive so.
While shells with explosive filler will still cause extensive damage to the crews or even detonate the autoloader, for those like APDS or APCR, the spall liner will prevent further shrapnel damages to the turret, giving PLZ05 some reaction time to retaliate if the gun system is still operational. The overall protection is also sufficient to stop .50 cal rounds upfront; just be sure to face the turret to enemy fire as much as possible; protect the turret crew of four at all costs.
Weaponry
As the PLAGF eventually opted for a NATO 155 mm caliber howitzer, the PL05-155 howitzer shares many similarities to its NATO counterparts i.e VIDAR, PzH 2000, and Type 99. While the PLZ05 lacks more powerful HE shells than its counterparts, access to a unique SAPCBC will certainly be a selling point of the PLZ05. The ammunition options are as follows:
- Type 05 HE, HE, Stock — Although said to be comparable to NATO 155mm howitzers, the domestic Type 05 HE however has relatively low explosive content compared to them, let alone compared to the previous vehicle in the line, PLZ83. Good news is, the overall damage is still more than enough to end the service of most vehicles at its tier if aimed properly, sometimes even higher tiers from a near-miss shot by overpressure.
- BEA1-155, SAPCBC — The last time players might have heard of SAP ammunition for ground vehicles would be from SU-100Y or Chi-Ha LG which are at way lower tiers, both with a naval gun mounted on their chassis; turns out the PLAGF also adopted SAPCBC for their howitzers or tank cannons against concrete fortifications. In short, any penetration into the combat compartment of vehicles are a certain death sentence to anything in the BEA1's path; while most vehicles will face a very miserable end after penetration, the sheer explosive content equivalent to future 125 mm HE-FS can sometimes trigger overpressure on enemy vehicles, turning it into a dual-purpose shell.
- Type 05 HE (VT), HE-VT — The shell is totally identical to its stock counterpart but now armed with MD81 proximity fuze; with fuze selection options available in-game, this shell is also devastating for ground vehicles, just be sure to switch modes according to the battlefield, the explosive content is more than enough to blast enemy aircraft off the skies even from a near-miss.
While the overall size of PLZ05 is rather huge, once enemies are in your line-of-sight, the selection of ammunition with somewhat forgiving 7.5 second reload per shot will delivers the worst nightmare for targets — either be blasted by the HE shells or knocking-out the internal compartments by the SAPCBC shell. In case players have issues with the default -3° depression at complicated terrain, lowering the suspension to the front gives additional depression at around -2°.
Mobility
During the development of WZ324 (the future PLZ45 solely for export), NORINCO engineers realized the urge need for a new universal artillery platform with German diesel engine as the placeholder before domestic alternative has been developed. The fruit of this program eventually led to a new artillery platform which is identical to the PGZ09's, its frontal-mounted powerplant consisting of a completely domestic powerpack. While it doesn’t have the output on the VIDAR with a German 1000 hp engine pack (vs 800 hp on PLZ05), the PLZ05 is still more mobile than most SPHs in other tech trees. It might not be the fastest vehicle to hit the frontline, but having -14.2 km/h reverse speed is always welcomed in case for withdraw from battlefield when needed.
Another note to the mobility is the access to hydropneumatic suspension for vehicles of this chassis (including PGZ09), while it only has front-rear adjustment, this is certainly welcomed to gain extra angles for hull-down targets.
Gameplay
After progressing from the previous PLZ83 with inferior gun systems, some players of the PLZ05 might be eager to bring it up at first to deliver revenge blows to enemies with its huge 155 mm howitzer. Before bringing it to the battlefield, players have to remember one crucial point for the vehicle — a SPH is NEVER designed for frontline battles. The overall size of PLZ05 is huge given the gun alone is at 52 caliber (8060 mm) from the sides, it will very likely be one of the most noticeable objects to appear from the horizon at its tier. It is never a good idea to stroll around the battlefield with a PLZ05, especially in plains.
During the early stages of the PLZ05, the protection and spalling liners are certainly a plus for the vehicle with more forgiving playstyle by its tier; even if players opt for a more aggressive playstyle, the only option of ammunition is the default HE shell. While the content is not as much as NATO counterparts, with careful aiming and choosing targets wisely, players can always score some victories to research the vehicle while getting a grasp on its ballistics — thanks to the long barrel and NATO equivalent velocity, it can be said that targets within 1 km have to take PLZ05 seriously as it can hit them with relative ease even without LRF at tier IV modifications. By later stages where players have BEA1 and the VT variant of Type 05 HE, this enables more possibilities for players where they can opt for being a “railgun” with its devastating SAPCBC to internal compartments of enemy vehicles or leaving the VT as main shell to blast both enemy vehicles or aircraft to own’s desire (via hotkey to change fuze type).
There might be some imagination from players that thinks “What if we put an APCBC for 155 mm SPH?”, NORINCO eventually gives the answer to this wish — the BEA1-155 is an unique type among any 155 mm in service worldwide, as well as in-game. The sheer penetration is already a death sentence to angled vehicles, sometimes the heaviest vehicles in-game even if not penetrated all the way into combat compartment (for example, the “beloved” Maus) can be exterminated by this shell from a penetration at lower sides of chassis near the suspension by overpressure, even a non-pen will lead to overpressure thanks to its explosive content equivalent to future PLAGF 125 mm HE-FS shells. Be sure to learn the spots for overpressure during the gameplay to be more efficient on knock-outs; even the infamous Soviet HTs will fall to PLZ05's howitzer.
