ZPL94 (105 mm)

The 105 mm ZPL94 on the T-69 II G gun mantlet.

Description

The thermal sleeve equipped ZPL94 (94式线膛炮) cannon is a licensed Mainland Chinese 105 mm rifled cannon made by NORINCO, serving as a tank cannon and being one of the longest and most powerful L7 derivatives in terms of barrel length and muzzle velocity.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• T-69 II G
• ZTZ88A

General info

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Available ammunition

As this gun was made for the NATO standard cartridge, ZPL94 can fire both NATO and Chinese rounds. The gun comes with Type-83 HEATFS, Type-83 HESH, Type-83 APFSDS and a unique DTB-1 HE-VT shell which can handle careless aircraft.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Type-83 HEAT	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
DTB-1	HE-VT*	23	23	22	21	21	21
Type-83 HESH	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
BTM1	SAPCBC	97	96	90	83	76	70
Type-83 APDS	APFSDS	351	349	343	336	328	321

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Type-83 HEAT	HEATFS	1,200	11	0.05	0.1	1.27	65°	72°	77°
Type-83 HESH	HESH	750	11.2	0.1	4	4.31	73°	77°	80°
BTM1	SAPCBC	803	16.2	1.2	19	2.31	48°	63°	71°
Type-83 APDS	APFSDS	1,500	4.2	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Proximity-fused shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
									0%	50%	100%
DTB-1	HE-VT*	825	16.2	0.2	0.1	500	15	1.66	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

The ZPL94 is mounted on the premium T-69 II G and the tech tree ZTZ88A. Thanks to the relative modernity of the gun (in 1994) and the longer barrel, ZPL94 has an increased muzzle velocity, which makes it easier to aim its rounds and increases the penetration of the Type 83 APFSDS dart. The variety of ammunition means that this gun can be a jack-of-all-trades: the APFSDS can handle most vehicles players may face in battle; HESH and HEATFS can knock out light vehicles while HESH alternatively can be used to target enemies behind ridges; and HE-VT for a last-ditch option to send aircraft (particularly helicopters) back to their hangar.

But just like most Chinese tanks, due to the nature of the smaller turret and low profile, the gun depression is quite depressing, at only -5° in T-69 II G's case and it doesn't come with the fastest loader found in its tier, so hilly terrain is your enemy and plan every shot - the reload time can be the culprit of your demise.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Higher velocity thanks to its longer barrel
• Access to HE-VT that can handle aircraft given they are careless

Cons:

• Subpar reload time to NATO counterparts
• Horrible depressing angle

History

In the 1970s, after encountering the Soviet Border Troops at Zenbao/Damansky Island and capturing a T-62 from them, PLAGF was in dire need of new cannons to handle the possible masses of Soviet armoured brigades rushing into Mainland China. From that T-62 they developed their own version of T-12 anti-tank gun - the PTP73 100 mm smoothbore AT gun, but its ammunition still struggled to handle tanks; eventually after the Cultural Revolution and the start of economic reform, PLAGF decided to introduce cannons from NATO countries thanks to the improved relationships with them.

In 1979, PLAGF finally got their hands on introducing the famous Royal Ordnance L7, in the form of an L7A3 cannon from Austria and started its chapter of L7 development in Mainland China as a part of Project 3-7 (三七工程).

After ZPL79/81/83(A) came the ZPL94, one of the longest barrel and most powerful guns in the L7 family, the exact length of the gun was unknown but the gun was at 62 calibre; specifically for ZTZ88A and ZTZ59D, with the introduction of tube-launched ATGMs and new APFSDS in the 2000s, this gun gave those older tanks chances to surprisingly knock out well-armoured targets. It also served as the basis of a reduced recoil version of the same gun under different designation.

Media

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See also

• L7 (105 mm) (Family)

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
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)