ZSL92
Contents
Description
The ZSL92 (ZSL92式轮式装甲输送车; WZ551) is the first mass-produced in-service variant of the WZ551 vehicle family. Although there were earlier attempts to produce a new wheeled APC for PLAGF as early as 1970, the eventual cancellation of the vehicles under the Campaign 704 have in fact halted the development of wheeled APC for almost a decade until Factory 256 (NORINCO Chongqing Tiema Industries) brought up with plans to modify Mercedes Benz NG 2026 truck into the new APC program. As evaluations in 1980s confirmed the weapon systems at 25 mm caliber and now with revised chassis as APC, the earliest variant entered PLAGF evaluation as the ZSL90 while the revised and improved variant entered service as ZSL92; thanks to the now-reliable platform and many turrets tested on the chassis, ZSL92 also set the foundation of future AFT09 and the PTL02/WMA301 series which are still in PLAGF service up to this date.
Introduced in Update "Seek & Destroy" as a new SPAA to Chinese tech-tree, although deemed as an APC in most sources, ZSL92 somehow retains a sufficient elevation to gun-down enemy aircrafts with its main cannon inherited from the PG87-25-2 while having sufficient penetration to end the service of vehicles of its tier from their sides; while players have to be extremely cautious on the better-than-none protection of ZSL92 and well-planning for any assaults without having to go reverse.
General info
Survivability and armour
Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | ___ mm | ___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom |
___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Turret | ___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | Expression error: Unexpected * operator. | 455 | Expression error: Unexpected round operator. | __.__ | |||
| Realistic | 283 | Expression error: Unexpected round operator. | __.__ | ||||
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.
| 25 mm ZPT90 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 400 (200) | 500 | -8°/+52° | ±180° | - | 39.6 | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | 32.5 | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | 26.8 | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: AP-T · FI-T*
- Type 87 HE: FI-T*
- Type 87 AP: AP-T
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| FI-T* | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| AP-T | 63 | 61 | 51 | 41 | 33 | 27 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| FI-T* | 1,050 | 0.25 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 29.26 | 47° | 56° | 65° | ||||
| AP-T | 1,050 | 0.25 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Machine guns
Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.
| 7.62 mm Type 86 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 1000 (250) | ___ | __° | __° |
Usage in battles
Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High RoF 25 mm autocannon with sufficient penetration at its tier for flanking
- Sufficiently mobile for flanking operations
- Sufficient elevation to gun down strafing aircrafts with devastating caliber
- Generous ammo pool
- Amphibious thanks to the light chassis and propellers
Cons:
- Rather large chassis with below average protection
- Transmission option hinders reverse speed
- Lacks more advanced APDS against late-WWII/"Doomsday" heavy tanks
- Crew of three with very likelihood of knock-out once being penetrated
History
By 1970s, in view of the possible invasion of Soviet Union and realizing the lag of development on armored vehicles, Central Military Commission issued different campaigns to develop new vehicles ranging from medium tanks to wheeled APCs, due to the cancellation of the Campaign 2-4 and the influence of the Cultural Revolution, the WZ522 with influences from BTR-60 and a BTR-70 from Romania also bit the dust as the aftermath.
However, the need for a wheeled APC which is useful as part of a quick-response unit and modernization of PLAGF units called for the development of such vehicle in early 1980s. While the Second Automotive Works (now Dongfeng) developed WZ522 with a domestic truck chassis as the future ZSL93; the Factory 256 (NORINCO Chongqing Tiema Industries) opted for the chassis of Mercedes-Benz NG 2026 truck both for reverse engineer and evaluation of wheeled vehicles. This also led to the extension of the chassis of Factory 256's prototype for the overall layout of the new APC with 6x6 layout, this prototype shown vastly improved performance to Dongfeng's solution but some flaws were still presented in the prototype; thanks to the efforts from engineer team to persuade the vehicle into the next 5-Year Plan as part of the national defense upgrades, the vehicle with revised suspension for simplified yet reliable maintenance could now evaluate with three different scheme: one with ZBD86's turret (aka WZ551F), one with 25 mm autocannon and a .50 caliber turret solution; although there were also solutions provided from NATO countries, namely a solution from France, the 1989 national-wide riot and subsequence sanctions eliminated any possibilities of foreign solutions. Meanwhile, the 25 mm caliber turret was revised after the introduction of PG87-25 as part of the would-be Project 8910 (40th Anniversary) was certified as the ZSL90 in 1990, but it would be 2 years later when PLAGF eventually adopted WZ551 as their new wheeled APC which is now known as ZSL92 and been first spotted in 1999's National Day parade. Thanks to the now reliable chassis, NORINCO also developed various vehicles under this chassis such as the PTL02/WMA301 wheeled assault gun, AFT09 ATGM launcher, PLL05 gun-mortar system, ZSL92A with .50 caliber turret and ZSL92B with ZPT99 turret as well as HJ-73 ATGM.
Although deemed as obsolete by modern standards, the ZSL92 has a special place among Chinese military enthusiasts on some appearance of this vehicle. For most enthusiasts, the vehicle is famous for its appearance in Chinese drama "Soldier's Sortie" (士兵突击) led by Wang Baoqiang where the protagonist, Xu Sanduo (许三多) earned a ZSL92 mock-up model from the commander of regiment; while the other occurrence was during a skirmish in December 2007 when an armory keeper murdered his section chief with a Type 56 assault rifle after conflicts on chess gameplay, the local police asked for the assistance from PLAGF units stationed near the village, after negotiations with the criminal failed, a ZSL92 no. 303 which the turret was controlled by Yang Shupeng (杨树朋) who died in 2016 as part of Chinese UN Peacekeepers fired upon the house which the criminal was in, gunning down the criminal alongside with the cover he was in.
Devblog
In the early 1980s, the PLA recognized the need for the development of a new IFV design to meet the requirements of more dynamic warfare tactics. This led to the development of a new wheeled armored vehicle under the designation WZ551, based on a licensed chassis of the Mercedes-Benz 2060 truck. Development and testing of prototypes with various armament options continued throughout the ‘80s until the vehicle was officially adopted by the PLA in 1988 under the designation ZSL-90, in both an IFV and APC configuration.
Despite entering service, development on the vehicle continued, especially as the first model was plagued by teething issues chiefly surrounding its engine. The succeeding variant, designated ZSL-92, introduced a new water-cooled diesel engine as well as improvements to the vehicle’s chassis in 1994. As a result, performance and reliability improved drastically, leading to the vehicle being ordered in much greater numbers by both the PLA as well as foreign operators. Furthermore, the chassis was a popular platform for the development of several spinoff variants, including missile carriers and assault guns. The ZSL-92 equips the PLA’s mechanized units and is still in active service to this date.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| China anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Radar SPAAG | PGZ09 |
| Gun and Missile SPAAG | PGZ04A |
| Missile SPAA | Antelope |
| Other | ZSD63/PG87 · ZSL92 · WZ305 |
| Germany | ␗Sd.Kfz.222 |
| North Vietnam | Phòng không T-34 |
| USA | CCKW 353 (M45) · ␗M42 |
| USSR | Tor-M1 |
