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TL;DR: An improved Chinese “copy” of the American M110 SPH.
History:
Getting towed howitzers from point A to point B in a timely manner has always been an issue when it comes to large militaries. One of the most well known ways of transporting these weapons was through their mounting on various self-propelled chassis, turning them into self-propelled howitzers, or SPHs. The most well known form of SPH are tracked SPHs. This type of SPH provides a robust and fairly mobile platform to transport their weapons. The late WW2 and Post War era saw a dramatic shift in tracked SPH design, with most newly developed SPH’s being based on incredibly mobile platforms with little protection for the gun crew, allowing for much faster “shoot and scoot” maneuvers while also reducing production cost. This design philosophy would eventually culminate in the M107 and M110, designs so deep into the philosophy that they would provide ZERO protection for the crew and need additional vehicles to carry ammunition. The US military would receive the M107 and M110 just in time for the Vietnam War during which several examples would be captured. In the 1980s, China was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the current state of its artillery corps. The Soviet Union, who China now considered to be its greatest threat, had traditionally focused heavily on artillery development and outclassed China’s own in many aspects. To combat this, the Chinese military began looking into the development of a long range 203mm artillery gun, similar to the M201A1 howitzer found on the American M110A1/A2. To accomplish this task, NORNICO got in contact with Dr. Gerald Vincent Bull, the father of the modern 155mm artillery who had also assisted China previously with the development of their PLL01 155mm howitzer, and his Space Research Corporation. Together, with additional assistance from ERT/EDB of Spain, they developed the FGT-203 towed howitzer, a 203mm howitzer with a barrel length of 45 calibers, or 9135mm. The SRC would make the blueprints for the weapon while NORINCO would be in charge of manufacturing, during which they would make several changes to the design to fit their own needs. The completed howitzer would begin ballistic trials soon after, during the very early stages of which American 203mm rounds were allegedly used. Domestically developed rounds were also tested, which all showed impressive results. The two most notable being the Extended Range Full Bore shell (ERFB), which weighed 95kg and had a maximum range of 40km, and the Extended Range Full Bore Base Bleed shell (ERFB-BB), which weighed 100kg and had a maximum range of 50km. These numbers were immensely impressive as they vastly outranged the contemporary 203mm howitzers of the US and USSR. The filler weight was also greater than the American M106 HE round, resulting in a kill radius almost two times as large. Unfortunately, with this immense power came several problems. The gun was very cumbersome to use and the hefty weight of the shells only allowed an ROF of 2RPM, falling short of the 3RPM the Chinese military was looking for, even with an assisted loader. The gun itself also proved to be a little too powerful. During the second round of ballistic trials in 1991, the weapon suffered a catastrophic failure when the muzzle brake fractured, leading to excessive stress on the recoil system and causing the weapon to rotate 180 degrees, destroying the recoil system in the process. Despite these issues, development continued. Of course, just having a towed 203mm howitzer was not enough. The weapon also needed to have a motorized variant to keep up with the times. One big problem though: China did not have a readily available chassis capable of handling such a powerful gun. At least, not a domestic chassis. They did, however, have an American M107 just lying around. How China sourced this M107 isn’t exactly known, however, it is theorized, and very likely, that China had managed to capture a few of their own M107s and M110s while they were helping out in Vietnam. An alternative theory is that NORINCO purchased a captured M107 from Vietnam. Regardless of the truth, the M107’s 175mm howitzer would be dismounted and a modified FGT-203 put in its place. The resulting vehicle would debut in 1993 under the name W90 and undergo firing trials. These trials would be rather successful, proving the concept of motorizing such a powerful weapon and development would move forward since, obviously, China wasn’t about to just start buying up M107/M110s to convert. Unfortunately, the FGT-203 also proved to be very unwieldy on the M107 and there weren’t many good ideas on how to fix this. On top of this, the end of the Cold War just a few years earlier had largely removed the Soviet threat from the minds of the Chinese military. These factors, as well as the aforementioned issues with the towed FGT-203, led to suspension of 203mm artillery development. The sole prototype still survives to this day and is on display at a Chinese military park.
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 the W90 is one of the most interesting earlier examples in terms of history. It could serve to spice up the early ranks of the Chinese TD line, filling any of the existing small gaps with some semi-indigenous style. Playstyle would be similar to that of the M44 with three massive differences: Worse survivability, longer reload, and much lower ammo capacity. The survivability is evident. No protection whatsoever for the crew. Thankfully, the reload is surprisingly reasonable, thanks to an assisted loader, at as low as 30 seconds. Like the M107/M110 series, the W90 should, in theory, be able to carry two rounds on the rear stabilizer, however, Gaijin has given other vehicles the ability to carry more ammo than what was historical so seeing such here would not be out of place. How ever many rounds Gaijin decides to go with, the ammo box mechanic will double it, allowing for increased longevity. Thankfully, to balance out all these drawbacks, the W90 is decently quick. With a top speed of around 55kph, rapid repositioning between each shot and/or returning to a capture zone for more ammunition should be the easiest part. On top of this, the W90’s best round has a speed of 933m/s, making aiming its massive gun deceptively easy. Rush in, find a good spot at a comfortable range, and let loose before going back to a friendly point to restock on ammo. “Out of sight, out of mind” should be your main philosophy. As previously stated, the W90 would be a perfect low-tier addition to China’s TD line, however, due to the vehicle’s prototype nature, seeing it as a potential premium alternative to the in-service Taiwanese M110A2 wouldn’t be unexpected.
Specifications:
Armament: 203mm FGT-203 howitzer
Dimensions: 10.00~m, 3.15m, 3.47m (L,W,H)
Weight: 28500~kg
Armor: None
Crew: 5
Ammunition: HE (Variations like BB or RAP are unlikely to matter for War Thunder)
Speed: 55~kph
Horsepower: 405hp
Pictures:
Side View:
Max Elevation:
Towed FGT-203:
Sources:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/618808786
中国这门炮被称为亚洲第一炮，光后坐力就有80多吨_火炮
每日一发——FGT-203毫米牵引火炮
W90 203mm self-propelled gun
W-90 203mm自走榴弾砲 - 日本周辺国の軍事兵器
FGT-203毫米牵引火炮_百度百科
亚洲第一炮！中国FGT203榴弹炮射程高达50公里_新浪图片中国火砲開発史（仮-1）
