P150G5P Dŭngsu-po

The P150G5P Dŭngsu-po ("Wisteria gun") is a Menghean self-propelled howitzer developed as the successor to the P150G2P Songsu-po. It is part of the P150G5 artillery system, which also includes battery-level and battalion-level command and fire control vehicles. It is built on a utility chassis derived from the hull of the JCh-8 main battle tank, giving it a unique appearance, with the turret centered on the hull rather than offset toward the rear.

Development

Although the P150G2P Songsu-po and its P150G4P variant were generally well-liked by the Menghean Army, many leading engineers at the General-Directorate for Research and Development at the Menghean Ministry of National Defense expressed interest in a more capable self-propelled gun. Watching developments abroad, these engineers argued for the benefits of a fully automated ammunition handling system, as opposed to the semi-automatic system on the Songsu-po. A fully autoloaded turret, they concluded, would offer a higher rate of fire, allowing the vehicle to more effectively perform shoot-and-scoot fire missions. It would also reduce crewing requirements, and thus reduce the logistical footprint of artillery formations.

Engineers from the design bureau of the Chikai Heavy Machine Building Plant were especially active in promoting the design of a new self-propelled gun. Chikai had also entered a prototype in the Ministry of National Defense's 2003 SPG design trials, losing out to Samsan Defense, which produced the design that became the P150G2P. At that time, Chikai's use of the JCh-5 chassis had been one of the reasons for its loss; because of the small hull and confined turret ring, the 2003 prototype's ammunition capacity and rate of fire were both poor. By using an autoloading turret and a utility variant of the JCh-8 chassis, also a Chikai design, it would be possible to counteract both of these problems.

An evaluation of competing prototypes took place in 2015, under the oversight of the General-Directorate for Procurement. Samsan entered a comprehensive upgrade of the Songsu-po, with an all-new turret featuring a fully-automated ammunition handling system. This allowed a reduction in crew size to two individuals: the gunner and the commander. On paper, Samsan's option offered lower costs and better reliability, as well as a faster introduction timeline, as existing P150G4P production lines could be converted to the production of the new type. Yet Chikai's prototype was selected as the winner despite its greater mechanical complexity and longer timeline to introduction. The judgment ostensibly rested on the claim that the Chikai prototype would have greater mechanical commonality with JCh-8s elsewhere in Menghean combined-arms formations, and on its larger autoloader capacity and greater isolation of the crew. Yet rumors of bribery and favoritism swirled around the decision, and were confirmed in the late 2020s when opposition media gained access to classified records via a freedom of information request.

Production

The first operational P150G5P vehicles were delivered to front-line units in 2019. Their production required the construction of a new assembly hall at the Chikai Heavy Machine Building Plant in Jinjŏng, Menghe, though this construction project was expedited by the simultaneous construction of Assembly Hall 4, which allowed some combination of construction resources. During this time, the Northwestern Armored Vehicle Plant in Ryŏju continued manufacturing the P150G4P, only partially slowing production after Hall 5 of the Chikai Heavy Machine Building Plant came online. To critics of the P150G5P program, this confirmed two prior suspicions: first, that Chikai had oversold its ability to reach the required production numbers at an acceptable cost, and second, that the Menghean MoND regarded the P150G4P as adequate up to the early 2020s.

See also

• O9 Komainu