Order of Battle   I   Military History   |   Opinion & Editorial     Home
Ground Forces | Infantry | Engineer | Armor | Artillery    Naval Services    Military Aviation
China Defense.com Forum

PLA's Infantry Support Weapons I:
Type 67 7.62mm General Purpose Machinegun

by Timothy Yan

 

Type 67 live firing during a recent anti-terrorism excise in Xinjiang.
The ammo feeds from right side of the weapon.

 

Conclusion:

The Type 67 GPMG has a proven design and it has a very reliable combat record in hands of the Chinese troops. There were some unsatisfactory reports of few earily production units that were sent to North Vietnam during the waning days of the Vietnam War. The problem was most likely caused by the inexperienced Vietnamese gun crews than the actual Type 67 GPMG itself.

It seems like the production of the Type 67 GPMG was completed. The few new units created by the PLA recently are not getting the Type 67. The most noticed new unit of those is the PLA Hong Kong (HK) Garrison Regiment and it has the most up-to-date infantry equipment in the whole PLA. Instead of GPMG, the HK Garrison gets the new lightweight QJZ-89 12.7mm heavy machinegun (HMG) and QLZ-87 35mm automatic grenade launcher (AGL) for its weapon companies. Both of those weapons weight considerably lighter than their NATO and Russian counter parts. The QJZ-89 12.7mm HMG weighs at an amazing 25 kg with the tripod and barrel. While the QLZ-87 AGL weights in at 20 kg with tripod and it can be use on bipod which weighs even less at 12 kg. However, those two weapon systems are not exactly direct replacements for the GPMG role. The QLZ-87 AGL is a completely different class of weapon with it's slow velocity & high trajectory 35mm grenades. While the QJZ-89 HMG weighs not much more than the Type 67 and fires more powerful 50 cal ammo, however, it's 12.7x112mm cartridge is a lot heavier than the 7.62x54mm ammo and therefore a very limited amount can be carry by the gun crew on foot. Then, there's also a new QJY-88 5.8mm lightweight GPMG that uses the new 5.8mm assault caliber rifle cartridge but with a heavier projectile for the long range performance. So far, the PLA is ignoring the 5.8mm lightweight GPMG. It's clear that the PLA is trying phase out the obsolete 7.62x54mm rimmed cartridge but the 5.8x42mm is just doesn't have the performance to be a real GPMG round.

The PLA and the PLAAF's 15th Airborne Corp are the main users of the Type 67 GPMG. A small batch of earily production Type 67 were sent to North Vietnam during the last stage of Vietnam War. Interestingly, few late production version Type 67 ended up in Afganistan. Those were given to the Mujarhadeen via Pakistan during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. It's unlikely any of those Type 67 in foreign hands are still in operation due to the fact that the Type 67 requires its own proprietary ammunition link.

 

 

Sources and References:

- Jane's Infantry Weapons, 2004 edition.

- The Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Museum, Beijing

- The official catalog of the Beijing Military Museum

- Weapon Knowledge, Feb. 2002

- China Northern International Shooting Range, Chiangping District, Beijing

 

 

Copyright (c) 2001-2005,
China-Defense.com Main Page
All rights reserved.

 

We welcome your feedback on this article at the China Defense.com Forum

 

 

 

<< Previous Page

 

Copyright © www.China-Defense.com. All Right Reserved.   中国防御网 © 版权所有, 违者依法必究。