The heavy machine gun, as the name suggests, is slightly heavier than the general machine gun. It has a fixed frame and can shoot continuously for a long time. It has the characteristics of long range, high power and fast rate of fire. Generally, it weighs more than 25kg. It is called a “medium machine gun” in Britain and America. “. As early as 1883, the world’s first heavy machine gun was born in the United States. It was made by the famous engineer Maxim, so it was named Maxim heavy machine gun. The body weighs 27.2kg and the barrel is water-cooled.
During World War I, heavy machine guns were tantamount to the “Dragon Sword” on the battlefield-giving orders to the world. In the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, the Maxim heavy machine gun appeared on the battlefield for the first time, and it took only one day to slaughter about 20,000 British and French soldiers. Since then, the heavy machine gun became famous in the first battle. Later, the heavy machine gun derived three brothers: light machine gun, general machine gun and anti-aircraft machine gun.
The heavy machine gun can flexibly use the gun frame for flat and high-fire, and then rely on its large-capacity chain box to feed ammunition, with a water-like rate of fire, forming a firepower net, which is a suppressive firepower covering the battlefield. And its barrel is equipped with a cooling device, so it has a longer firepower continuity.
Speaking of China’s heavy machine guns, although their development history is not long, they have gained a reputation overseas in recent years, and a large part of them are still swaying steel and fire on the fiery Middle East battlefield.
In the late 19th century, China began to use machine guns following the invasion of foreign powers. Later, various provinces and various warlords introduced and copied machine guns, such as the Maxim heavy machine gun, German MG08 heavy machine gun, and French machine guns. In addition, the Kuomintang army also copied the United States. The heavy machine gun and the German MG15 heavy machine gun.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China’s heavy machine guns were basically imitations of the Soviet Union. It was not until the mid-1960s that China began to develop its own heavy machine guns. Although the development of China’s heavy machine gun started very late, it has developed very well.
The first more famous is the Type 53 heavy machine gun, which is actually an imitation of the former Soviet Union’s SG43 medium machine gun. It was produced in 1953 and equipped with a large number of troops. It is the first machine gun among the products with the word “Guo”, and it once shined on the Korean battlefield and made extraordinary achievements. This type of heavy machine gun adopts a wheeled gun frame and is equipped with a guard plate, which makes the gunman’s survival coefficient high on the battlefield. Therefore, the new gun is welcomed by the soldiers as soon as it is used by the army.
The second model is a Type 57 heavy machine gun, which is an imitation of the SGM medium machine gun of the former Soviet Union. It was produced in 1957 and equipped with a large number of troops. Its combat performance and structure are mostly the same as the Type 53 heavy machine gun. The main difference is that the gun frame is a tripod, and the barrel has a longitudinal heat sink.
The third is the Type 67 heavy machine gun. There are two versions of this type of heavy machine gun. One is the Type 67-1 heavy machine gun. It was redesigned and transformed on the basis of the Type 67 general machine gun. It was designed and finalized in 1978 and produced in 1980. ; The second is the Type 67-2 heavy machine gun, which is the second improved version of the Type 67 general machine gun. It was developed in December 1979 and the design was finalized in January 1982. Generally speaking, the two derivative versions of this type of machine gun are both world-class in the same period, and its primary bomb supply system is unique in China, and it is still very advanced.
The fourth model is a 77-type heavy machine gun, which is a product of the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations. The rupture of China and the Soviet Union caused a sudden increase in the pressure of our army’s land warfare, and it was urgent for our army to come up with a brand new heavy machine gun, so the Type 77 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun appeared. This is the first heavy machine gun developed entirely by China, and the first anti-aircraft machine gun. It was produced and finalized in 1980. The Type 77 adopts the same air-blowing principle as the American M16 rifle. The gun has a compact body and low weight. It was once very popular in the world arms market.
The fifth model is the Type 85 heavy machine gun. This is China’s second-generation self-developed heavy machine gun. It is actually a simplified and reduced-weight version of the Type 77. It only weighs 40kg including the multi-purpose tripod. The foreign trade version is the W95 heavy machine gun, which borrows the mature technology of the 85 heavy machine gun and has the characteristics of high precision, reliability, good ergonomics, and beautiful appearance. Importantly, the W95 heavy machine gun adopts a modular design concept, which is convenient and quick to disassemble and assemble; it also uses NATO standard ammunition standards, allowing Chinese firearms to go abroad and take a place.
The sixth is the W85 foreign trade heavy machine gun, which is mainly used for foreign trade and vehicles. The same type of heavy machine gun for domestic use is the QJC88 tank anti-aircraft machine gun. It is equipped with domestic 96, 99 tanks and other equipment. Because W85 is compared with domestic 54 The anti-aircraft machine gun (the imitation of the Soviet Deschka M36/46 anti-aircraft machine gun) has inheritance and is very suitable to become an alternative model of the Soviet Deschka machine gun. Therefore, the W85 heavy machine gun is often in short supply overseas.
The seventh model is the Type 89 heavy machine gun. This is the lightest 12.7mm machine gun in the world in active service. It weighs only 26 kilograms. Its body can be carried by only one soldier. Therefore, the 12.7mm heavy machine gun with a large caliber is equipped In the infantry squad, in the whole world, only China has done it. This is the main weapon for long-range fire support of the infantry unit of our army.
Throughout the development history of China’s heavy machine guns, like other equipment, it is the process of imitating, learning, developing, and successfully building advanced weapons and equipment with Chinese characteristics. During the period, relying on the hard work of generations of Chinese military workers, China now has a place in the world arms market for Chinese weapons. This is a sad and difficult road. May the Chinese military industry make greater achievements!
Focus on:
1. Machine guns over 25kg are called heavy machine guns, and countries such as Britain and the United States call them “medium machine guns”.
2. The world’s first heavy machine gun was the Maxim heavy machine gun, and it was invincible when it first appeared in the Battle of the Somme.
3. Chinese heavy machine guns began to be manufactured after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, initially imitating the Soviet Union, and did not start independent research and development until the 1960s.
4. China’s heavy machine guns successively have Type 53, 57, 67, 77, 85, 89 and other models, as well as two foreign trade heavy machine guns, W85 and W95, which are best-selling overseas.
5. The W85-type heavy machine gun for domestic use is the QJC88 tank anti-aircraft machine gun, which is mainly used for vehicle-mounted weapons of domestic tanks.
The 6.89 heavy machine gun is the lightest 12.7mm machine gun in the world’s active equipment. The gun body can be carried by only one soldier.