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Hello, and welcome to the post for the WZ504! This is a Chinese anti-tank missile carrier, removing the 73 mm gun and turret in favor of a quadruple launcher of HJ-73 missiles. This would be a dedicated anti-tank variant of the ZBD86 firing less capable missiles, but would still provide another tank destroyer for the Chinese ground tree.
History
A ZBD86, essentially a Chinese-produced BMP-1.
In the late 1970s, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army realized it would need a new vehicle to ferry infantry into battle. This was restated for the Army after the 1979 Sino-Vietnam War, where field reports of combat losses resulted in an official search for a new infantry fighting vehicle. At the time, one of the more popular IFVs was the Soviet BMP-1, but relations between China and the USSR were not at their best. This meant that China searched elsewhere for the BMP-1, and obtained a few samples from Egypt in 1980. It was determined to fit requirements, and production of the 6V150 engine began in 1985, with reverse-engineering accomplished in 1986, resulting in its designation of ZBD86, or its industrial designation, WZ501.
An HJ-73B, this variant used components from the HJ-8 missile and was the first to be SACLOS guided.
A few years prior to the adoption of the ZBD86, China had been developing improvements to the HJ-73, a missile originally a copy of the Soviet 9M14 Malyutka. In subsequent variants, the HJ-73 came into its own as a much more solid missile than the original HJ-73. By the time China acquired the ZBD86, the HJ-73B variant was under development. This was the first SACLOS guided HJ-73, and would lead to later developments of the missile.
A WZ504 on display, likely at the Beijing International Defense Exhibition in 1988.
Some time during the mid-1980s, China began work on a variety of vehicles based on the ZBD86 chassis. These included the NFV-1, a collaboration with the American FMC mounting a 25 mm M242 cannon turret on the ZBD86 hull, the WZ503, an armored personnel carrier with a taller troop compartment and no turret, or the WZ502 mortar carrier. One of the more notable members of the initial ZBD86 family was the WZ504. Developed as an anti-tank missile carrier, the WZ504 carried four HJ-73B missiles in a rotating turret, with a total of 16 missiles carried. These were carried on a hydraulic lift platform which could lower into the hull when not in use or in need of replenishment. This platform uses a goniometer to search for and aim at targets.
The primary benefit of this system was it provided an anti-tank platform using a proven chassis with missiles that were available in large numbers. The WZ504 was showcased in Beijing in 1988, but it never attracted any interest, domestically or internationally. This was not to be the end for anti-tank platforms in China however. In 1989, the ZDF89 entered production with the newer HJ-8 missile, and after a switch to wheeled platforms, the AFT09 entered service in the late 1990s with the powerful HJ-9 missile, and continues to see service to this day.
An AFT09 from Xinjiang Military Command in the Kunlun Mountains, September 2019.
Specifications
Crew: 3
Mass: 13.6 t
Length: 6.74 m
Width: 2.97 m
Main armament: 4× HJ-73 anti-tank missiles, 16× total
Traverse: 360°
Elevation: -2°/10°
Engine: 293 hp 6V150 diesel engine
Maximum speed: ~65 km/h
Sources
- Type 86 Infantry Fighting Vehicle - SinoDefence.com
- Army Guide
- Zaloga, Steven J. (1990) BMP Infantry Combat Vehicle. New Territories, Hong Kong. Concord Publications Co.