Noricum, the arms division of the Austrian steel company Voest-Alpine, purchased the design rights to the GC-45 howitzer after Space Research Corporation moved to Brussels. They made a number of detail changes to improve mass production, resulting in the GHN-45 (Gun, Howitzer, Noricum), which was offered in a variety of options like the APU and fire control systems. Once out of prison, Gerald Bull was soon contacted by China.[4]
The PLA also used the Noricum version, producing it as the PLL01/WA021, which entered service in 1987.[5][6] They also mounted it on a locally designed tracked chassis to produce the PLZ-45 (also known as the Type 88), along with an ammo-carrier based on the same chassis. The PLZ-45 did not enter service with the PLA primarily because their existing artillery was all based on Soviet-standard 152 mm ammunition. However, two major batches of PLZ-45s were sold to the Kuwaiti and to Saudi Arabia.