M230 chain gun vs PCL-181: Specs Compared

FORCETALLY

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M230 chain gun — licensed reference photograph

AArtillery

M230 chain gun

Chain gun

Credit

Yari Samurai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

AI-generated illustration · Not a photograph — Representative exterior of PCL-181

BArtillery

PCL-181

Self-propelled howitzer

AI-generated illustration · Not a photograph

Credit

ForceTally · AI-generated illustration · Not a photograph · AI-generated · OpenAI output terms · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

M230 chain gunLength

2.181 m

Length source ↗

PCL-181SH-15

6.5 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

M230 chain gunlarger figure on 0 of 2

None

PCL-181larger figure on 2 of 2

Mass+41917%
Calibre+417%

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

14 of 35 rows sourced on both sides

2.18m

6.5mSH-15

Length

All recorded figures & sources

2.181 m

Length

Single source

2,181 mm (85.9 in)^[source]

6.5 m

SH-15

Single source

Configuration

Details

M230 chain gun and PCL-181 configuration
Specification	M230 chain gun	PCL-181
Type	Chain gun^[source]	Self-propelled howitzer^[source]
Place of origin	United States^[source]	China^[source]
In service	1983–present^[source]	2019–present^[source]
Used by	United States, and other countries^[source]	See § Operators

Wars	Persian Gulf War War in Afghanistan Iraq War^[source]	2025 India–Pakistan conflict^[source]

Designer	Hughes Helicopters^[source]	Nanjing University of Science and Technology^[source]

Designed	1973^[source]	—

Manufacturer	Hughes Helicopters (1975–1985) McDonnell Douglas Helicopters (1985–2002) Alliant Techsystems (2002–2015) Orbital ATK (2015–2018) Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (from 2018)^[source]	Norinco^[source]