The People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday rolled out battalions of its new artillery units to join tanks and SWAT teams in a grand military parade to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China in the heart of Beijing.

The PLA's Type 05 tracked self-propelled gun-howitzers thundered past the audience on and at both side of the Tian'anmen Rostrum amid applause studded with exclamations.

The Type 05 gun-howitzers were first delivered to the PLA at the beginning of this year, and are the PLA's largest guns in service.

One of China's most sophisticated artillery pieces in terms of its automation level, strike range and navigation and fire control systems, the Type 05 gun-howitzers have received several batches of foreign guests, in a demonstration of the country's military openness and transparency.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2009)