Type 99 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer. The ''Long Nose''.

[_N4MELESS_ 2,972]

 

A third generation self-propelled howitzer equipped with a auto-loading 155 mm cannon domesitcally developed in Japan as a successor to the Type 75 SPH.

It is based on the enlarged version of the Type 89 FV chassis developed by Mitsubishi heavy industries with new turret and gun developed by Japan steel works.

The main feature of the Type 99 self-propelled 155mm howitzer is the main gun of 52 caliber 155mm howitzer, which is said to be able to shoot 18 or more consecutive shots in 3 minutes. 

The effective range has also improved from 19km of the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer to approximately 30km for regular bullets and approximately 40km for base-bleed bullets (propellant bullets).

 

Additional history of the vehicle development:

Spoiler

The Type 99 self-propelled 155mm howitzer (nickname: Long Nose, abbreviation: 99HSP) is a state-of-the-art machine developed as a successor to the Type 75 self-propelled 155mm howitzer that had been operated by the Ground Self-Defense Force's artillery units.

It is a self-propelled howitzer, and is deployed mainly in each divisional of Artillery Regiment and Northern Army Combined Brigade under the control of Northern Army.
However, with the commercialization of the Type 19 wheeled self-propelled 155mm howitzer developed as a successor to the towed 155mm howitzer FH70, in order to prioritize the procurement budget for the new type of SPH, the production of Type 99 has been temporarily suspended. A total of 136 Type 99 were procured by 2018.

The previous Type 75 self-propelled howitzer, which was formalized in 1975, has a maximum range of only 19 km even when using specially developed long-range ammo.
On the other hand, the towed 155mm howitzer FH70 (jointly developed by Britain, West Germany and Italy), which began licensed production in 1983, has a maximum range of 30km when using base-bleed ammunition.

Even the French-made 120mm towed mortar RT, which is deployed in infantry department units, reaches a maximum range of 13km when using rocket-assisted propellant.
Maximum range is one of the most important characteristics for artillery therfore t he maximum range of the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer became unsatisfactory by today's standards, regardless of when it was developed.
Therefore, from 1985, research on a self-propelled artillery to succeed the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer was started.

From 1987 to 1993, 5.6 billion yen was invested in long-term research and prototyping of turrets, loading devices, gun barrels, ammunition, etc., and from 1994, development began on the premise of equipping.
As for prototype vehicles, 4 self-propelled guns, 2 dedicated ammunition vehicles, and 6,070 shells have been ordered for 3.03 billion yen.
Japan Steel Works became the main contractor for the development of this vehicle, and was in charge of the development of the main gun and turret.

In addition, development was carried out by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the body part, Asahi Kasei for the entire shell, Nippon Yushi for the inner cylinder of the shell, and Hitachi for the ammunition truck.
Technical tests were conducted using four prototype vehicles until 1996, and practical tests began in the following year, 1997.
And in 1999, it was formalized as "Type 99 self-propelled 155mm howitzer", and the procurement of 4 vehicles was decided for the first time with the budget of the same year.

The Type 99 self-propelled howitzer was first shown to the public on November 12, 2000 at the 48th anniversary event held at the Ground Self-Defense Force Weapons School in Ami-machi, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture.
In addition, the deployment to actual combat units has started from the 7th Artillery Regiment, and is being progressively deployed to divisions and brigade artillery units under the Northern Army.
It seems that deployment to mainland divisions and brigades is not currently being considered.

The Type 99 self-propelled howitzer is the only self-propelled howitzer currently in use.

Since the procurement price per vehicle is extremely high at 960 million yen, the number of procurements per year is limited from 6 to 8 vehicles.
In 2001, two Type 99 self-propelled howitzers were sunk in the sea and lost while being transported by a cargo ship in the Pacific Ocean for shooting tests in the mainland of the United States.

When 105 units were procured by 2013, the replacement of equipment in Hokkaido was completed, and all artillery units such as divisions in Hokkaido are equipped with Type 99 self-propelled howitzers.
However, since the number of artillery guns was reduced to 400 in the 22nd Guidelines and further reduced to 300 in the 25th Guidelines, the Type 99 self-propelled howitzer will not be produced enough to completely replace all the Type 75 self-propelled howitzers...

 

Year of service: 1999

Cost: 960 million yen

Full length: 11.30 m

Full width: 3.20m

Overall height: 4.30m

Gross weight: 40.0t

Maximum speed: 49.6km/h

Steering system: neutral steering

Engine: Mitsubishi 6SY31WA water-cooled in-line 6-cylinder 4-cycle diesel engine

Output: 600 HP

Crew: 4 people

Maximum range: About 40,000m (base-bleed shell) or About 30,000m (regular shell)

Rate of fire: 18 or more shots / 3 minutes (maximum)

Armament: 1x 52 caliber 155mm howitzer , 1x 12.7mm heavy machine gun M2 

Development: Ministry of Defense Technology Research Headquarters (now Defense Equipment Agency )

Manufacturers: Chassis: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,  Turret : Japan Steel Works

 

 

 

JGSDF job introduction (Artillery unit).

 

 

Additional pictures of the Type 99 SPH:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Vehicle walk around:

Spoiler

Note the similarities of the vehicle chassis to the Type 89 FV which it is based on. The gun traverse lock is in the center of the front.

 

Driver's hatch. It has three periscopes and lacking of wiper like the Type 90 MBT-

 

The engine and transmission are in the front so the sprocket wheel is in the front. Rubber pads can be installed when driving on the public road .

 

Right side front of the turret, equipped with a spare track.

 

Left side front of the turret, necessary tools are installed.

 

The gun traverse lock can be controlled from inside the vehicle.

 

Perforated muzzle brake

 

As the nickname suggest ''Long nose'' because the gun barrel is very long.

 

Double road wheels with seven wheels on each side. In order to withstand the recoil from firing without a recoil spade, it has one more wheel than the Type 89 FV, and two pairs of shock absorbers are installed in front and rear. It has no side skirts.

 

Engine exhaust port is located on the left side front of the vehicle.

 

 

Rear of the vehicle. The vehicle hull has double doors. 

 

It is equipped with a M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun for self-defense. It seems to be mainly for anti-aircraft use, and has a sighting ring for lead firing, and is mounted on a tall gun mount that allows elevation.

 

Direct firing:

Spoiler

 

Gun elevation and depression angle:

Spoiler

 

Equipped with a shell tracking radar above the gun.

Spoiler

 

 

Regarding the ammunition, it is said that all 155 mm ammunition using in Japan is compatible to the Type 99 SPH aswell, this included all the ammunition fired by the Type 75 SPH which we already have in the game.

The Type 75 SPH we have in the game has four types of ammunition as follow:

Spoiler

Due to the significantly longer gun barrel, the shell velocity of these shells should be higher.

 

Type 03 155 mm multi-purpose shell / 03式155mmりゅう弾砲用多目的弾

 

US-made CBU-105 cluster bomb which should has similar effects as the Type 03. Image or video on the Type 03 is unfortunately lacking.

 

Quote

 

It is a cluster warhead that releases a large number of submunitions in the air above the target. Compared to normal high- explosive rounds, it has a wider range of damage per shot, and is intended to improve the rate of destruction not only against people but also against lightly armored vehicles. After firing from the gun, the submunition is released using gas pressure by setting the time fuse.

It was expected to destroy a large number of lightly armored vehicles with a small number of shells , especially at long range.  In order to also have attack power against light armored vehicles, the submunition is a shaped explosive with armor resistance, and the submunition has a ribbon and small wings for attitude control is attached so that the shaped explosive warhead faces downward during fall. The destruction radius is said to be 100m square. 

The artillery that the Type 03 can  be operated with is the 155mm howitzer FH70 , the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer , and the Type 99 self -propelled howitzer equipped by the Ground Self -Defense Force.

 

Type 03 was developed domestically, and prototypes began in 1996, and were formalized in 2003. The development cost is about 8.8 billion yen.

Since it violates the Convention on Cluster Munitions , which was signed in 2008 and came into effect in 2010, disposal began in 2013. By 2015, all were destroyed in Norway. As of 2010, the Self -Defense Forces possessed 2,702 rounds

 

 

If anyone has more information about the Type 03 munition especially its specifications or any other munitions that i have missed please put it in the reply!

 

This is a rare video showing the process of automatic-loader and timing of the auto-loader device which is exactly at 7.5 second:

 

In the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer, only the shell was automatically loaded, and the charge was manually loaded by the loader. However, in the Type 99 self-propelled howitzer, the charge is not a cartridge type in a cloth bag, but a unit type and is automatically loaded.

In the Type 75 self-propelled howitzer, when reloading ammunition after shooting, the barrel of the main gun had to be returned to the horizontal, but the automatic loading device of the 99-type self-propelled howitzer automatically adjusted to the elevation angle of the main gun. Since it is linked to the gun barrel, it is no longer necessary to return it horizontally.

 

Thanks for your time and support!

 

Sources:

Spoiler

https://rikuzi-chousadan.com/soubihin/zisouhou/type99.html

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/99式自走155mmりゅう弾砲

http://combat1.sakura.ne.jp/99SHIKI.htm

digidepo_1283286_pn_TRDI50_04.pdf

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by I_NAMELESS_I

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[DMYEugen 688]

Absolutely. +1

[_tomoe_ 16]

Yes, please! +1

[Fireraid233 4,274]

+1  Type 75: "this isn't even my final form mortal fools!"

Edited January 19, 2023 by Fireraid233

[Hronomant 182]

13 hours ago, I_NAMELESS_I said:

If anyone has more information about the Type 03 munition or any other munitions that i have missed please put it in the reply!

 

This is not much, but it seems to be undermined in the air over the target. The coverage area is 100 m² (which is confirmed by some sources), from this we can conclude that the cone of destruction with a radius of 5.642 m, and that the projectile is likely to be undermined at a distance of about 21 m from the target.

Spoiler

P.S. In addition, we can infer the performance of an ammunition based on ammunition that is similar in function and design, such as the Mark 172 HE-ICM

Spoiler

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Hronomant

[G1label 143]

Looks good +1

[Nacho5944 181]

Very nice, +1! Do we know if it has any kind of NVD's or a laser rangefinder?

[Milocat 4,848]

+1, this would be a great addition to the game!

[桜小路ルナ_UvO 8]

I heard the narrator say "auto-aim" in Type 99HSP`s loading video. Does that mean we can get a laser rangefinder?

[DTalpha98 93]

Yes ssir! +1 
 I wouldn't mind this even going to 8.0 as long as it has some sort of rangefinder.

[Hronomant 182]

Did anyone find any additional information about the radar, any other details? The fact is that in addition to the main role, projectile tracking radars can often perform others — to track ground and air targets. Therefore, in modern stationary systems their functions are generally combined, radars designed only for tracking projectiles are almost never produced and are not used. If this radar had any additional functions, in addition to adjusting the shooting, this could significantly increase the combat significance of this SPG in the game. We know from open sources that the Type 99, among other things, can effectively attack mobile targets (probably primarily sea and land), we know that the Type 99 is equipped with a fairly advanced fire control system, but target designation needs to be given for FCS. Since we are not aware of any integrated bearing systems, and we know that Type 99 is integrated into the Japanese combat control system FCCS (Firing Command and Control System), we can assume that it receives target designation for attacks of moving targets only from there, but FCCS is unlikely to be implemented in game. However, if the radar fitted to the Type 99 is capable of independently bearing any targets, it could independently provide target data to the FCS because it is already integrated into it. The radar is obviously Doppler (as are all radars of a similar class), and I don't see any strict technical restrictions on this, many radars of a similar class and size are capable of this, but I have not seen any mention of such functions specifically for SPG`s radars. This is especially important in the context, what if at the very least it has the ability to find low-lying air targets, we can formally get an anti-aircraft gun capable of reaching attacking helicopters from a distance of 10+ km, so this is the reason why this topic is quite a priority for me last time. 155 mm HE ammunition with a non-contact fuse already makes it possible to be not very accurate when attacking air targets, but it is almost impossible to conduct effective shooting at such distances without any calculations from the FCS.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Hronomant

[N-Glycerin@psn 89]

Radar-guided auto-loading grenade shotgun? +1 and take my money! 

[Mercenario54 339]

Hope it comes soon

Japan needs it

[Sweepdown 146]

+1, Japan needs everything they can get if Gaijin won't add subtrees to it, and this is no exception.

 

As a tangent, I tried making a Type 19 155mm Wheeled SPH suggestion thread to complement this one, but stopped when I realized that the Type 19 cannot carry ammo onboard and has to use a separate ammunition carrier. Which is a huge bummer. I'll just stick to this one then.

[DMYEugen 688]

If this vehicle does have a laser rangefinder, it could "replace" the Ho-Ri Production. It could easily be placed the the HRP's BR of 7.3 as the G6 already sits at 7.0 and the Type 99 is objectively better in pretty much every way. Of course, it wouldn't play remotely similar to the HRP, however, there's literally nothing else that will. I just think it's about time we start pushing Gaijin harder to give the HRP the boot and replace it with the Type 99.

Edited February 28, 2023 by DMYEugen

[N-Glycerin@psn 89]

The only change the Ho-Ri needs is to use the WWII camo patterns and not the post war patterns. I don't think we need to "push" for things to be taken away from a tree that needs every addition it can get. But I digress. The Type 99 would be a fine addition alongside the other vehicles at whatever br it is assigned. It can fire interesting ammunition and the shell tracking radar has some interesting implications. 

[DMYEugen 688]

1 hour ago, N-Glycerin@psn said:

The only change the Ho-Ri needs is to use the WWII camo patterns and not the post war patterns. I don't think we need to "push" for things to be taken away from a tree that needs every addition it can get. But I digress. The Type 99 would be a fine addition alongside the other vehicles at whatever br it is assigned. It can fire interesting ammunition and the shell tracking radar has some interesting implications. 

The Ho-Ri Production's getting removed whether you like it or not. It is a complete fabrication that Gaijin has already confirmed they're looking to remove just like the Panther II and Tiger 105. So yes, while it isn't necessary to push for its removal since it's going to happen anyway, I think advocating for the Type 99 to act as its replacement should be echoed more.

[N-Glycerin@psn 89]

1 hour ago, DMYEugen said:

The Ho-Ri Production's getting removed whether you like it or not. It is a complete fabrication that Gaijin has already confirmed they're looking to remove just like the Panther II and Tiger 105. So yes, while it isn't necessary to push for its removal since it's going to happen anyway, I think advocating for the Type 99 to act as its replacement should be echoed more.

If Gaijin has already expressed that they're going to remove the Ho-Ri then the "push" feels like it would be a moot point. Regardless, my liking it or not is irrelevant. The Type 99, weather it replaces the Ho-Ri or not, will be a welcome addition. 

[OddPhenomena 1,015]

I like the look of this, that fire rate and the higher velocity shells should prove beneficial for its combat usage. +1!

[WreckingAres283 4,262]

+1  The Type 75 SPH is already fun, can´t wait for this one

[Mercenario54 339]

It's taking too long, it should be in game already :C

[Epsilon160 270]

Would be great just for the better muzzle velocity, not to mention chances of getting radar or better fire control systems

[_N4MELESS_ 2,972]

J GROUND EX No.16 (ジェイ グランド) 雑誌 – 2022/7/5

[warner7 81]

+1, Chinese Type 99 vs Japanese Type 99, would be cool to see who wins.