Developed by the Hunan Institute of Technology, the QLU-11 is manufactured by Norinco, China’s state owned weapons manufacturer, and one of the largest defense contractors in the world. While the QLU-11 is used exclusively by the Chinese military, an export model is available for international buyers, designated the LG5.Written by: Chris Cappy & Justin TaylorEdited by: Savvy StudiosThe primary difference between the two is that the LG5 uses NATO Standard 40x53mm grenade rounds, meaning it can fire any number of ammunition fielded by foreign militaries already using that round, including their own programmable airburst munitions. Now why would China fully commit to an idea that other militaries passed over? The answer comes down to the two areas the PLA expect their next conflict to arise. The mountainous border with India, and on the Island of Taiwan. Looking first at the border with India, in the event that China and India upgraded their border conflict from spiked maces and homemade spears to full scale kinetic conflict, they would be doing so primarily in unforgiving high altitude mountain terrain. By extension this means dismounted infantry with softskin or lightly armored vehicles in support would be the name of the game. Adding to this mountainous terrain lends itself to incredibly long clear sightlines, so long that it’s not uncommon to view an enemy target for extended periods of time but be well outside of the maximum range of your squad or platoon’s small arms. You’re basically stuck throwing up rude hand gestures until you get into firing range. While systems like man portable ATGMs and RPGs might be able to reach out that far, they’re best saved for when you actually encounter vehicles.