QLZ-87

China's first indigenous automatic grenade launcher — a gas-operated 35mm weapon that provides squad-level suppressive fire and has proliferated across conflict zones from Sudan to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Overview

The QLZ-87, formally the Type 87 automatic grenade launcher, is a Chinese-designed, crew-portable automatic grenade launcher (AGL) that entered People’s Liberation Army service in the mid-1990s. It fires a proprietary 35×32mm high-velocity grenade from a drum magazine, delivering sustained suppressive fire against personnel and light armour out to about 600 metres, and serves as the baseline of China’s broad 35mm grenade ecosystem alongside later belt-fed and precision launchers.

Development

Development began in 1982 under the Hunan ordnance complex (Factory 9596/Zijiang) and the Xianfeng design consortium, aiming to field an indigenous AGL that matched the weight and firepower of Soviet and Western analogues without depending on foreign calibres. The system was formally adopted in February 1996 and was first seen publicly a year later with the PLA garrison in Hong Kong, according to a 2010 NDIA presentation by Chinese ordnance engineer Juanjuan Yang and the detailed ARES research note on the weapon Yang, NDIA 2010 ARES, 2014. Production figures remain not publicly established, but the QLZ-87 quickly became the standard PLA squad-level AGL.

Design & capabilities

The QLZ-87 is a gas-operated (direct-impingement), air-cooled, magazine-fed automatic grenade launcher that can also fire semi-automatically. The base weapon weighs approximately 12 kg with its integral bipod and optical sight, rising to about 20 kg when mounted on the tripod with a loaded 15-round drum US Army ODIN; a 6-round drum is also available. Its cyclic rate of fire reaches around 480 rounds per minute. The proprietary 35×32mm SR (semi-rimmed) cartridge, documented by Weaponsystems.net and CAT-UXO, delivers a muzzle velocity of roughly 200 m/s, giving an effective point-engagement range of approximately 600 m and a maximum area-effect range of 1,750 m when fired from the tripod Weaponsystems.net CAT-UXO. The ammunition family includes the DFS-87 high-explosive fragmentation round (casualty radius ~10–11 m), the DFJ-87 dual-purpose HEDP/HEAT round (penetrating roughly 80 mm of armour), as well as incendiary, smoke and marker projectiles. The system can be broken into two man-portable loads — the launcher with bipod and the tripod with ammunition — and can also be mounted on light vehicles and helicopters.

Variants

• QLZ-87B / QLB-06: A lighter, shoulder-fired semi-automatic development weighing about 9.1 kg, retaining the same 35×32mm ammunition drum. It was designed for greater individual mobility while keeping ammunition commonality with the parent AGL Modern Firearms.
• QLZ-04: A heavier, belt-fed automatic grenade launcher in 35×32mm, introduced to complement the QLZ-87 with sustained-fire capability on tripod or vehicle mounts. Full specifications are not consistently published.

Combat record / operational use

The QLZ-87 has been observed far beyond PLA service. It has been exported or otherwise acquired by at least Pakistan, Sudan (where it is locally produced as the “ABBA”), Ethiopia, Iraqi Kurdistan (Peshmerga forces), Somalia (including captures by al-Shabaab), South Sudan, and Chadian rebels, as detailed in the ARES study of the weapon’s global diffusion ARES, 2014. In 2024, open-source analysts also reported recovering QLZ-87 launchers from Hamas caches in Gaza, underscoring its reach into non-state arsenals. While no comprehensive operational history has been published, the weapon’s appearance across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East confirms its role as a cheap, reliable source of automatic grenade fire for forces unable to acquire Western or Russian AGLs.

Advantages

• Lightweight and man-portable compared with belt-fed AGLs — base launcher ~12 kg, full system ~20 kg.
• High cyclic rate (~480 rds/min) for a magazine-fed grenade launcher.
• Indigenous 35×32mm ammunition family avoids dependence on NATO 40mm or Russian 30mm standards.
• Can be broken into two loads for infantry carriage, and mounts on vehicles and helicopters.
• Wide export availability makes it one of the most encountered Chinese heavy weapons in conflict zones.

Drawbacks / limitations

• Drum-feed limits sustained fire endurance compared with belt-fed AGLs.
• Effective point range (~600 m) is shorter than some Western high-velocity 40mm systems.
• Tripod-only maximum range (1,750 m) reduces flexibility in rapid relocation.
• The direct-impingement gas system may increase fouling during prolonged fire.
• Ammunition is completely incompatible with the NATO 40mm and Russian 30mm ecosystems, complicating logistics for mixed-force users.

Counterparts

• Mk 19 (USA)
• AGS-17 (Russia)

Outlook

The QLZ-87 remains in PLA service but is increasingly complemented by the belt-fed QLZ-04 and the precision QLU-11/LG5 “sniper” grenade launcher. Production continues, and its low cost and robust design ensure it will remain a staple of Chinese infantry squads and a fixture on secondary arms markets for years to come. The 35×32mm ecosystem that the QLZ-87 pioneered now defines China’s domestic grenade-launcher architecture, exactly mirroring the 5.8×42mm small-arms divergence from both Western and Russian standards.

Key specifications

Sources

1. Yang, Juanjuan — “Grenade Launchers in China” (NDIA 2010). https://ndia.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2010/armament/WednesdayLandmarkBJuanjuanYang.pdf
2. ARES — “The Chinese QLZ87 AGL” (IQPC, 2014). https://www.iqpc.com/media/9491/30387.pdf
3. US Army ODIN — QLZ-87 (Type 87) Chinese 35mm AGL. https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/QLZ-87_
4. Weaponsystems.net — 35×32mm Type 87. https://weaponsystems.net/system/1311-BB01%20-%2035x32mm%20Type%2087
5. CAT-UXO — 35mm Type 87 projected grenade. https://cat-uxo.com/explosive-hazards/grenades/35mm-type-87-projected-grenade
6. Modern Firearms — QLB-06 / QLZ-87B. https://modernfirearms.net/en/grenade-launchers/china-grenade-launchers/qlb-06-qlz-87b-eng/