Automatic grenade launchers are primarily designed to destroy enemy manpower and unarmored vehicles. But if cumulative ammunition is used, they are able to successfully fight armored vehicles with bulletproof protection. An important quality of automatic grenade launchers is the ability to conduct mounted fire, which allows you to destroy targets hidden in the folds of the terrain.
The Chinese Armed Forces received their functional counterpart AGS-17 much later than the Soviet Army. It was not until the late 1980s that Norinco mastered the production of the QLZ87 35 mm automatic grenade launcher, which is also known as the Type 87.
Chinese engineers, having familiarized themselves with the American 40-mm Mk 19 and the Soviet 30-mm AGS-17, preferred to create a sample with a free-bolt automatic, albeit inferior to foreign machine-gun grenade launchers in practical rate of fire, but with a lower weight and dimensions, which in turn allowed the weapon to be serviced by one fighter. For this reason, the ribbon power supply was abandoned in favor of the store.
The grenade launcher, equipped with bipods, weighs 12 kg, on a tripod – 20 kg. The aiming range is 600 m, the maximum is 1750 m. The rate of fire is up to 500 rounds/min. The combat rate of fire is up to 80 rounds per minute. The weapon has a small-magnification optical sight with illuminated reticle. The sight is positioned to the left of the barrel to ensure convenient shooting at high elevation angles. The ammunition includes unitary rounds with a fragmentation or cumulative grenade. The total mass of the shot is about 250 g, the initial velocity of the grenade is 190-200 m/s. A fragmentation grenade provides reliable damage to a growth target within a radius of 5 m. Incendiary and smoke grenades can also be fired. A cumulative grenade is normally capable of penetrating 80 mm armor, which, combined with a high rate of fire, makes it possible to confidently fight lightly armored vehicles.
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