Home Ground Forces Field Artillery Type 73, 100mm

TYPE 73 100MM TOWED ANTITANK GUN

The Type 73 100mm towed smoothbore antitank gun was developed in the mid-1970s as a result of China’s research on the 100mm smoothbore gun technology. The Type 73 is China’s first artillery gun that can fire the armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) round. The Type 73 entered operational service with the PLA between 1981 and 1983 to replace the Type 56 85mm antitank gun. Apart from being used for the anti-armour purpose, the Type 73 could also be used for direct fire on soft targets such as bunkers, fortifications, non-armoured vehicles, and infantry soldiers.

Crew: 9
Calibre: 100mm
Barrel length: 5,450mm
Combat weight: 3,630kg
Overall length: (Travelling Position) 9.52m
Overall width: (Travelling Position) 2.12m
Overall height: (Travelling Position) 1.84m
Muzzle velocity: 1,505m/s
Max fire range: 13.70km
Direct fire range: 1,730m
Max Rate of Fire: 8~10 rounds/min
Gun Elevation/Depression: +38/-4 degree
Azimuth: +/- 26 degree

This page was last updated 25 March 06