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Welcome to the suggestion for the BK1970! This is an experimental Chinese wheeled vehicle from the 1990s. The BK1970 offers its commander access to a variety of 105mm shells paired with fast mobility on a small platform. Fun fact, the chief designer of this vehicle, Fang Weixian, also helped design the ZTZ69, ZTZ80, ZTZ88, and ZTZ96!
History & Design
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Development of this vehicle began in the late 1990s, when the PLA began to switch from heavier vehicles like the PTZ-89 to lighter vehicles such as what would become the PTL-02. During this time, there were a lot of new ideas for vehicles to fit this new doctrine of lighter vehicles with greater mobility.
A variety of wheeled vehicle designs trialed, before the PLA ultimately decided on the PTL02, and later the ZTL11.
One of these designs was the BK1970, developed by 617 Factory, also known as the Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Corporation. For the design, 617 Factory used a heavily modified WZ551 chassis, and installed a low recoil 105mm gun in the turret. The gun was manually loaded, and had a crew of 4, with the driver being in the hull, and the rest of the crew in the turret, a common crew layout for modern wheeled vehicles. Since this vehicle was intended for fire support, reconnaissance, and tank destroying, it had no rear hatch for infantry. This also meant it could carry more ammunition than something like the PTL02, despite being a larger caliber of 105mm.
The existence of the BK1970 was revealed in 2001, as one of many R&D designs under consideration by the People’s Liberation Army. However, ultimately, the BK1970 design was scrapped, and remains today as a faintly remembered project in Chinese armored history.
Specifications
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- Crew: 4 (Driver in hull, Commander, Gunner, and Loader in turret)
- Weight: 18.5 t
- Hull length: 6.8 m
- Width: 2.58 m
- Hull height: 1.36 m
- Engine: 375 hp water-cooled diesel engine
- Maximum speed: 85 km/h
- Maximum range: 800 km
- Crossing depth: 1.2 m
- Maximum speed in water: 10 km/h
- Armament: 105mm low recoil gun (40 rounds)
- Secondary armament: 7.62mm machine gun & 12.7mm machine gun
- Smoke dischargers: 8× 76mm launchers, 4 per each side of the turret
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