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TL;DR: A Chinese 155mm artillery piece.
History:
Sometime during the 1970s, Gerald Bull, a Canadian-American weapons engineer, designed and produced the GC-45 155mm towed howitzer under his own company known as the Space Research Corporation. This weapon would attract the attention of Noricum, the arms division of the Austrian steel company Voest-Alpine. With Gerald’s help, Noricum would improve the design to allow it to be mass produced easier. This improved version would be called the GHN-45 and would soon enter service with the Iraqi military during the Persian Gulf War and used with great success as their range was superior to anything the Coalition could field. This, understandably, caught the attention of China who very much wanted to get their hands on this weapon system. This wouldn’t be possible for a little while, however, as Gerald Bull was currently serving a year in prison for exporting 30,000 155mm artillery shells, 2 gun barrels, and a radar tracking system to South Africa, which was a violation of the UN Arms Embargo on South Africa. His sentence would be suspended after 6 months, however, and Gerald soon received a call from China, who had been watching and detailing him thoroughly, having collected all of his academic papers dating back to the early 1950s. Through him, NORINCO would acquire the production rights to the GHN-45, which they would produce under the name of PLL-01, entering service in 1987. Immediately, a number of Chinese factories began looking into ways to better motorize the cannon, primarily for the export market. Their efforts would eventually be passed to NORINCO who would produce the PLZ-45, China’s first tracked NATO standard 155mm entry into the export market. To facilitate faster operation of the 155mm cannon, a semi automatic loader was installed, allowing for maximum fire-rate of 5 rounds per minute. 51 and 54 examples would be purchased by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia respectively, the later of which would use them in 2015 to shell Houthi rebels in western Yemen during the 2015 Military Intervention in Yemen. Even though the PLZ-45 was mainly intended for the export market, a small number of them still managed to worm their way into Chinese service with troops in the Beijing Military District. This marked China’s first step toward switching to the 155mm NATO standard.
Fun Fact:
If you aware of the PLZ-45’s most recent development, the PLZ-45A4, you may be wondering where versions A1 through A3 went. Well, designations A1, A2, and A3 were actually assigned to the PLZ-45 purchased by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria respectively. As far as I can find, there were no differences between these models, however, they would make good direct premium equivalents to the standard PLZ-45 or could be added in another/other tree(s).
Place In War Thunder:
Direct-fire capable SPHs are slowly, but surely, becoming a well established vehicle class in War Thunder. These vehicles are often large and clumsy, however, their firepower is nothing to sneeze at. As every in-game nation has access to at least one of these vehicle, it is only logical that every in-game nation should have access to their unique playstyles. China has countless SPHs to choose from and the PLZ-45 would give China a pseudo-counterpart to the Swedish Bandkanon 1C. This vehicle would also add some unique and indigenous Chinese spice to China’s rather boring tank destroyer line. As the PLZ-45 was a service vehicle, it would fit best in the tech tree, however, it could also be argued for addition as a premium due to only being serviced in limited numbers as well as there being more widely adopted 155mm artillery systems that China can have in its tech tree.
Specifications:
Armament: PLL-01 155mm howitzer and 1x 12.7mm HMG
Dimensions: 10.52m, 3.30m, 2.60m (L,W,H)
Weight: 33000kg
Armor: Proof against small arms fire and artillery splinters
Crew: 5
Ammunition: HE, HE-FRAG, Smoke, and Illumination (As well as any NATO standard 155mm ammunition)
Speed: 54kph
Horsepower: 517hp
Pictures:
Side View:Rear View:PLZ-45 In Chinese Service:
Sources:
http://www.military-today.com/artillery/plz45.htm