ZSD89 (122mm D-30) – Ethiopia's Tracked Kitbash

ChieftainWarrior · September 5, 2024, 7:59pm

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ZSD89 (122mm)

TL;DR: Chinese APC with a 122mm cannon lifted from a North Korean SPG

History
The first half of this vehicle’s history begins in the 1970s, in North Korea. After the development of the domestic 323 APC – essentially a lengthened Chinese YW531A with a turret housing dual 14.5mm cannons and amphibious capabilities – North Korea set out developing a series of tank destroyers and SPGs on that chassis. One of the first constructed was the 323 (122mm), known to the West as ‘M1977’ (and an upgraded version as ‘M1985’). Around 12 M1977s were exported to Ethiopia in 1985, and these served during the various conflicts in the following decade and a half.

M1977s in service with Ethiopia

The other half of this vehicle starts in 2015, with the delivery of at least 10, potentially up to 200, Chinese ZSD89 APCs, which normally house a one-man turret, fitted with a single 12.7mm QJC88 machine gun.

Beginning in 2016, Ethiopia has focused on upgrading its military capabilities, to improve its combat readiness. This has resulted in a number of new vehicle acquisitions, but also upgrades to pre-existing vehicles, including this unique ZSD89.

The vehicle was spotted first on the 17th May during a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to the Defence Engineering Industry Corporation’s complex. It can also be seen hidden away behind four WZ551s that underwent a very similar conversion in an official photograph released on the 7th August, although just barely. It is likely only one or two have been constructed so far, given the photo evidence. The official designation is, as of yet, unknown.

Characteristics
The converted vehicle combines the 122mm D-30 cannon and frontal gunshield of the M1977 with the hull – now opened up – of the ZSD89. The D-30 can fire a variety of shells, with at least 2 HE rounds, a couple of HEAT-FS rounds (one of which has 460mm penetration), as well as smoke rounds. The gun of the 2S1 Gvozdika is modified from the D-30 and uses the same shells, and so should give a good idea of it’s performance.

The ZSD89 has a 320hp engine, giving the vehicle a power-to-weight ratio of 22.4hp/t (just the APC), and a top speed of 65km/h on land, and 6.5km/h in water. The vehicle has 20mm of frontal armour allowing it to resist 14.5mm machine gun fire. On standard ZSD89 variants, the driver sits at the front, and the commander next to then. On this SPG variant, the crew layout is unknown, but likely has another 5-6 gun crew. In-game, this will probably be cut down to ~3.

Conclusion
This unique East African modification of a Chinese APC would be a good fit as a premium, or perhaps even regular tech-tree, tank destroyer for the Chinese tree. It would likely sit around 6.0-7.0, given the decently chassis, powerful cannon, but ineffective armour against actual tank cannons, and an open-topped design.

Specifications
Armament