PL66 Gai (152 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• PLZ83

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

Although the gun was certified in 1966, due to the lack of plans for more powerful shells until the late 1980s, both shells, DDB1 and its VT variant, are equivalent of the already obsolete OF-540 shell in Soviet service, thus it needs more careful aiming for maximum efficiency as enemies can sometimes survive a direct hit and fire back at the PLZ83.

DDB1/PL66, Stock - the DDB1 shell is identical to the OF-540 used in the Soviet Army since the 1940s on the ISU-152 and 2S3M. Although the calibre sounds fearsome, due to the insufficient explosive filler in DDB1 (the 3OF25 has almost twice the TNT equivalent), players should always aim for weak spots i.e. optics, top of vehicle etc. to achieve a one-hit knock-out. If the gun on the enemy vehicle survives the hit and remains operational, chances are this will be a death sentence for the PLZ83.

DDB1/PL66 (VT), Tier III - the researchable DDB1/PL66 (VT) is identical to its stock counterpart with the addition of an MD81 radio fuse; while this enables the gun to be used as a huge anti-aircraft cannon, the shell should only be considered if enemy aircraft are coming straight at the PLZ83 without any manoeuvres, considering the 3 m trigger radius of the MD81 fuse and its relatively high trajectory. Remember to switch back to the stock DDB1/PL66 before hitting ground targets as the trigger radius is very unlikely to do any damage to armoured targets.

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

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%

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

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

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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)