QLZ-87

The QLZ-87, also known as the Type 87, is China's first indigenous automatic grenade launcher: an air-cooled, gas-operated weapon firing 35x32mmSR grenades. Unusually for a launcher light enough to be carried by its crew, at 12 to 20 kg depending on mount, it fires high-velocity grenades, which give it longer range and a flatter trajectory than the low-velocity weapons in its weight class.

Chinese work on an automatic grenade launcher began in 1982 at the East China Institute of Engineering but stalled after four years. In September 1986 the PLA General Staff Department opened a procurement programme, pitting the East China Institute of Technology and its partner factories against a consortium of Hunan-based military industries. The Hunan group won on price, with Factory 9596 responsible for the launcher itself, Factory 343 for anti-personnel ammunition, Factory 9624 for fuses, Factory 5618 for the scope and Factory 9634 for the primer; the losing institute began developing its own launcher for export as the W87. During December 1988 trials a cook-off occurred, attributed to the inexperience of the Hunan factory workers, after which the two rival teams merged their projects and began jointly developing the QLZ-87 in 1990. It entered service in February 1996 and was first seen publicly in 1997 with the Hong Kong garrison.

The weapon fires from a 6- or 15-round drum at 480 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 190 m/s, reaching 600 m in normal use and 1,750 m from a tripod. It can be fired from the bipod fixed to the barrel or from a tripod, and mounted on armoured vehicles or helicopters; Norinco markets it as "mini infantry artillery", and it is capable of engaging low-flying air targets as well as ground ones. The two most common rounds are the DFS-87 high-explosive fragmentation grenade, with a stated casualty radius of 10 to 11 m, and the DFJ-87 dual-purpose round, which pierces up to 80 mm of armour and produces fragments lethal within 5 m of impact. Incendiary, high-explosive incendiary and coloured smoke marker rounds complete the family. Sights comprise iron sights, a 3x optic and a rail for night vision or thermal sights.

The QLZ-87B, also designated QLB-06, is a lighter handheld semi-automatic version with an aluminium receiver, redesigned action, new bipod, no tripod mount and a conventional pistol grip, weighing 9.1 kg and fed from a four-round drum. The belt-fed QLZ-04 complements the original in tripod and vehicle roles. Beyond China the launcher serves with Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Niger, Bolivia and Afghanistan; Ethiopia produces some locally and Sudan builds it as the ABBA. It has also been documented with the Kurdish Peshmerga, Chadian rebels, al-Shabaab and Hamas.