NORINCO Type 89 (ZSD-89 / WZ534)

History

NORINCO (China North Industries Corporation) is a major supplier of military equipment to the Chinese Armed Forces. One of its products is the "Type 89" Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV), a tracked transport developed in the 1980s and introduced into service around 1990.

The car is heavily inspired by Soviet-era designs that China has decades of experience with, and its physical shape and general layout clearly reflect that. As of this writing (2018), around 1,000 examples have been produced, with operators limited to China, Ethiopia (since 2013), Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe (as ZSD-89-II).

The Type 89 bears the Chinese Industrial Complex designation "WZ534". The main export model is "YW534".

The vehicle features a welded steel hull to protect its occupants from small arms fire (up to 12.7mm bullets) and artillery "spray". Crew 2, a pilot and a commander (in a row) with passenger seats in the mid/rear fuselage for 13 combat-equipped infantry.

The hull profile is very low-profile, with an almost horizontal forward raking plate at the bow, slightly sloping sides and an almost vertical rear fuselage fairing. The engine compartment is offset forward to the right, the driver's position is forward left and the commander's position is directly rear. Various weapons can be mounted on top of the hull, including machine guns, grenade launchers, automatic cannons and rocket launchers. Outside the hull are two rows of four smoke grenade launchers, allowing the vehicle to generate its own smokescreen in the chaos of battle.

The vehicle is amphibious in nature, capable of traversing water sources powered by the motion of its own chains. The rear area of ??the fuselage features electric access doors for passenger boarding and egress.

The driver's position supports night vision, and the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) kit is standard.

The vehicle's propulsion equipment consists of five twin-tire wheels located on one side of the hull. The drive sprocket is at the front of the hull and the chain idler is at the rear (the chain idler also works).

Power comes from a German Duetz BF8L413F 4-stroke air-cooled turbo diesel engine that delivers 320 hp to the track and wheel system. The hull is suspended on a torsion bar suspension system and can travel up to 66 km/h with a range of up to 500 km.

Dimensions include length 6.15m, width 3.13m, height 2.6m to the top of the fuselage. The vehicle weighs 14,300 kg.

The Type 89 originated from the earlier Type 85, which was developed around the same time for the export market and offered similar performance figures. The design of the Type 89 resulted in a larger and heavier vehicle to better meet the needs of the local Chinese military.

The basic weapon is a 12.7mm QJC88 (or equivalent) Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) for Air Defense (AA). This is in addition to the personal weapons carried by the crew and passengers.

The machine gun is mounted in a turret-like outdoor structure with the ability to perform a full 360-degree traversal from the centerline.

The versatility of the Model 89 is reflected in the variety of shapes NORINCO offers. This is beyond the basic Type 89 (WZ534) known as ZSD-89 in Chinese inventory. The Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) exists in the form of the YW307/ZSD-89, armed with a 25mm automatic cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and 12.7mm HMG. There is also an Armoured Command Vehicle (ACV) equipped with additional communications, and the hull has been redesigned to provide an extra pair of wheels (now six wheels per side of the hull). The WZ752 is an armoured field ambulance with elongated, taller body lines and six wheels on each side of the body.

ZJX-93 is a rescue vehicle, ZHB-94 is a supply vehicle, and ZZC-01 is a special reconnaissance vehicle. As the name suggests, the Amphibious Armored Refueling Vehicle (AARV) refuels forward combat troops. ZZC-02 acts as a radar carrier. The ZDF-1 is an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). A version of the vehicle is also equipped with 36 x 122 mm tubes for demining.

The other is modified to remove obstacle characters. The Type 89 also formed the basis for the Type 90 AFV (also known as the YW535).

The Type 89 vehicle family maintains an active presence in China's main military (People's Liberation Army or "PLA"). The service has a large number of tracked AFVs to cover a wide range of battlefield roles.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

1,000 x 12.7mm ammo.

Changes