Book of Stone: QLZ87

For April, Stone Soldiers.info is celebrating the A to Z Blog Challenge with daily letter-themed entries. A separate page with a list of all these entries, plus Character Profiles and Book Synopses will appear on the right hand side of the page in coming weeks, detailing the people, places and things of the Stone Soldiers universe.

The QLZ87 is a 35 mm automatic grenade launcher used by the People's Liberation Army of China. An air-cooled, gas operated fully automatic weapon capable of being transported by hand, it fires a variety of 35 mm grenades from a  6-, 9-, or 12-round drum. Anti-armor rounds can penetrate armour up to 80 mm thick. Anti personnel rounds produce fragments to kill or wound targets within 10 meters  of impact. The weapon can be fired from a tripod or bipod or mounted on vehicles. It is reportedly capable of attacking low-flying air targets as well.

In 2014, renegade troops of the PLA under General Zou Zheng Duan used QLZ87s with Nlai Wan-equipped rounds during their siege in Colorado (SS08: Terrorcota).