QJZ-89 (Type 89) Chinese 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

The QJZ-89, also known as the Type 89, is a heavy machine gun designed by the People's Republic of China and fires the Soviet-designed 12.7×108mm ammunition. The Chinese military was still searching for a lighter heavy machine gun after the adoption of the Type 85 machine gun. Type 89 was adopted just two years after the adoption of Type 85 as an entirely new "lightweight heavy machine gun." The gun and tripod together only weigh 26 kg (57 lb), which is even lighter than the 32 kg (71 lb) Russian Kord machine gun on a bipod mount; although the American XM312 was lighter at 19 kg (42 lb), it never entered service and had a rate of fire too low to effectively engage low-flying aerial targets. It achieves such a low weight through a combination gas/recoil action usually seen on autocannons, where gas unlocks the breach while recoil operates the feed and decreases the peak recoil forces induced on the housing and mount. China has reportedly developed 12.7 mm armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) ammunition for the QJZ-89, similar to U.S. saboted light armor penetrator rounds, increasing performance against light armored vehicles.