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TL;DR: A 152mm howitzer on a high-mobility truck.
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. Modern tracked SPHs usually incorporate a 360 degree rotating turret, direct fire capabilities, and decently reliable protection for their crews. As a result, however, they are usually quite expensive to build or purchase, making them unattractive for both less-funded militaries and well-funded militaries looking to motorize large quantities of howitzers. One of the solutions to this issue was simply mounting howitzers on cheaper to produce chassis. These chassis were usually wheeled and incredibly lightly armored but also more mobile on solid ground than tracked chassis. The late 1990s to early 2000s saw a global shift in the motorization of howitzers, with more and more militaries increasing funding on wheeled SPHs that were cheaper and easier to produce in larger numbers. China, noticing the shift, also began work on their own wheeled SPHs, with NORINCO producing vehicles like the SH1 and SH2 for the growing market. The SH1 was a more conventional design that required the deployment of stabilizers to fire. The SH2, on the other hand, was seemingly more intended for use closer to the frontline. The vehicle was based on the XLW-TB 6x6 light truck and mounted a 122mm PL96 howitzer directly on the bed, not needing any form of deployment other than the lowering of the stabilizers, the process of which could be omitted if the situation called for it. The bed mounting also meant that the gun crew could operate the gun almost entirely on the vehicle, allowing for a quick getaway. The vehicle was also direct-fire capable if needed, however, as the vehicle was an SPG first and foremost, the cannon could not depress past 0 degrees or horizontally traverse more than 30 degrees to the left or right. The SH2 and SH5, the later 105mm-armed version, would see decent success in the export market, being adopted by Lebanon and Nigeria in very limited numbers. Poly Technologies, a Chinese company known for producing export-centered vehicles using platforms and technology from other companies, saw this limited success and thought it enough to justify production of their own wheeled SPG based on the XLW-TB. They would debut this new addition to the family at the 2018 Zhuhai Air Show. It would be an XLW-TB fitted with a 152mm PL66 howitzer, a Chinese copy of the D-20, and would effectively complete the XLW-TB SPG family, giving it a large caliber option to compliment its small caliber (SH5) and medium caliber (SH2) offerings. To allow the massive PL66 to be mounted on the chassis, the mounting needed to be raised to allow the gun tube to clear the cabin. This increased the overall height of the vehicle and the immense weight of the PL66 can be seen visibly sagging the chassis in a few photos. On top of this, the larger 152mm shells reduced the total on-board ammunition load from the 24 rounds of the SH2/5 to likely somewhere in the ballpark of 12. On the flip side, the raised mounting may have allowed for a few degrees of gun depression. Unfortunately, the XLW-TB (PL66) would not attract any customers and would not be seen again, likely due, in part, to the aforementioned issues as well as general impracticality.
Place In War Thunder:
Gun trucks in War Thunder are largely considered meme vehicles with little real tactical value. This is largely due to their unarmored nature, terrible top speeds, and horrendous performance on soft terrain. The XLW-TB (PL66), while still comparatively unarmored, moves significantly faster, fast enough to justify its lack of armor. It also has more modern systems to better deal with soft terrain. Playstyle would be fairly self-explanatory. You’d want to avoid direct confrontation and artillery strikes. Your mobility would allow you to appear in very strong early game positions, however, you will have to play with an incredible handicap. You have anywhere from -3 to zero degrees of gun depression, a hefty trade-off for your incredible mobility. You also have a horizontal traverse of only 30 degrees to the left and right. Of course, with your mobility being so good, it would be possible to employ a sort of shotgun tactic in which you rush in and pop targets at point-blank range. Although, doing so in the face of the long reload associated with 152mm howitzers isn’t advised. As XLW-TB (PL66) was intended exclusively for export, it would make sense to see it as a premium or event vehicle, especially since there are other slightly more conventional SPGs based on the XLW-TB that could be added to the tech tree.
Specifications:
Armament: 152mm PL66 howitzer
Dimensions: 8.50m, 2.50m, 3.00~m (L,W,H)
Weight: 18000kg
Armor: Proof against small arms fire and artillery splinters
Crew: 4
Ammunition: Same as PLZ83 in-game
Speed: 100kph
Horsepower: 215hp
Pictures:
Front View:
Side View (Notice the slight sag in the middle):
Rear View:
Specification Plaque:
Sources:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/161444337
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