PLA expands Type 09 family
China boasted that 84% of the equipment participating in its military parade in Tiananmen Square on 3 September had never been publicly seen before.
Among these platforms were three members of the Type 09 8x8 armoured vehicle family.
Since the parade featured only vehicles in active service within People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ranks, it demonstrates the widespread introduction into mechanised units of this Norinco vehicle type that is nicknamed the Snow Leopard. It is the equivalent of Western 8x8 vehicles like the General Dynamics Stryker or Piranha.
Arguably of most interest was a signals/command version, of which four examples
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