The Type 83 122mm towed howitzer is a general purpose field artillery weapon to provide indirect fire against enemy personnel and other area targets. It was developed in the early 1980s to replace the ageing Type 54 122mm towed howitzer as the primary division indirect artillery weapon. The Type 83 is found in the howitzer battalions of artillery regiments organic at division level. Each battalion is equipped with 18 howitzers. The howitzer is mounted on a two-wheel carriage and towed by 6X6 truck.

The NORINCO (China North Industries Corporation) 152 mm Type 83 gun is believed to now equip reserve artillery units. It uses a long 152 mm barrel, believed to be about 45 calibres long, on a much revised carriage and recoil system based on the NORINCO 152 mm gun-howitzer Type 66 (see separate entry). Quantities of these were supplied by China to Iraq and some of these were captured by Allied forces in the 1991 campaign to retake Kuwait. Some are also understood to have taken part in the Iraq war of early 2003.

Production of the NORINCO 152 mm gun Type 83 was completed some time ago and it is no longer marketed.

The 152 mm barrel of the NORINCO 152 mm gun Type 83 is fitted with a single-baffle muzzle brake and the right-hand pitch rifling uses a uniform twist. A shield is fitted and the split trail legs are equipped with hydraulically operated wheels to assist handling. The carriage rests on a firing platform when emplaced, with the main wheels raised off the ground. When deployed in the firing position, a large spade is fitted to each trail. When not required these are carried one on each trail. When travelling, the barrel is swung through 180° and clamped over the closed trail legs. The trails are then attached to a steerable limber. Short moves can be made without having to stow the barrel in the reverse position.

The Type 83 gun fires a standard NORINCO 152 mm HE projectile also designated the Type 83. This projectile weighs 48 kg, is 830 mm long and uses a propellant case 960 mm long weighing 37 kg with a full charge and maximum muzzle velocity of 955 m/s. It can also fire a NORINCO ERFB-BB projectile to a maximum range of 38,000 m.

The optical fire-control system installed on the Type 83 includes a Type 58 panoramic sight weighing 1.942 kg with a magnification of ×3.7, Type 58 collimator sight weighing 1.3 kg and a Type CS-43 direct fire sight weighing 4.6 kg with a magnification of ×5.5.

A number of these weapons was supplied to Iraq and captured during Desert Storm in 1991. Some of these were provided with vertical attachments on their long barrels so that camouflage netting could be quickly installed.