Main battle tanks (part 6) - Type 99 (ZTZ-99) China

The main Chinese combat танк – Type 99 (factory index ZTZ-99) was first shown to the public during a military parade in Beijing on October 1, 1999. The appearance of the 3rd generation tank presented by China caused a lot of excitement. This tank was a breakthrough for Chinese tank building. In terms of its combat capabilities, this tank is close to the MBTs of leading tank-producing countries. A total of 18 vehicles were shown at the parade. Over the following years, about 200 more tanks were produced. However, mass production was not launched due to the relative high cost of the tank and design difficulties.

Undoubtedly, this tank has become a kind of technical breakthroughs for the Middle Kingdom. China was finally able to create its own promising tank. At the same time, the engineers of the People's Republic of China went along the path that had been beaten before, borrowing and improving foreign developments. The Soviet / Russian tank building school still has the greatest influence on China. Experts note a number of similarities of the Chinese tank with the T-72M. His nose and chassis actually repeat the Soviet development. There were suspicions that 125 mm. the tank gun was developed not without the influence of the Soviet 125-mm 2-46 gun. In addition, the Chinese tank received a carousel-type automatic loader close to the Soviet and Russian counterparts. The use of AZ reduced the crew’s crew to 3 people.

Layout and Booking

The tank is made according to the classical layout with a rear location of the MTS - engine-transmission compartment. In front of the tank is the management department - the driver's seat. The fighting compartment is located in the middle of the machine. The hull of the tank is about 1 meters longer than the hull of the T-72. The extension of the hull behind is associated with the release of space to accommodate a more voluminous German diesel. An increase in the hull at the front is associated with the placement of a more massive tower with large armor. By design, the tank tower Type 99 resembles Western counterparts. It should be noted that the upper front part of the tank hull is almost identical to the Soviet one that is mounted on T-72 tanks and inherited all the weakened zones from it.

Difference of the hull of the Type-99 tank from the hull of the T-72 tank

The armor of the Type 99 tank is similar in structure to the armor of the Soviet T-80 and T-90 tanks. The armor is a layer of composite material, which is corundum, fiberglass, etc., placed between two layers of steel. The tank turret has a welded structure and is made of armor plates of varying thickness. The armor protection of the frontal projection of the MBT Type 99 of late models was strengthened by using dynamic protection blocks placed on top of the main armor of the tank. At the same time, on the turret, the dynamic protection blocks are located in a "corner"; the rear niche of the turret was additionally reinforced, where the dynamic protection blocks were mounted on top of the lattice basket. According to the Chinese side, the dynamic protection used is multi-layered and provides the tank with protection from both armor-piercing sub-caliber and cumulative ammunition.

Tank armament

The main firepower of a Chinese tank is a 125 mm smoothbore tank gun. According to the statements of Chinese experts, this gun surpasses not only its Soviet counterpart 2А46 by 45%, but also the German gun RH-120, mounted on tanks Leopard 2А5 and Abrams M1А1, by 30%. The main means of fighting enemy tanks are armor-piercing sabots - BPS, with a core of depleted uranium. Apparently, the technology of their production, China received from Israel, which at one time delivered to the country such shells.

The M711 projectiles supplied by Israel had a ratio of length to diameter 20 to 1 and the initial velocity of the projectile - 1700 m / s. Their armor penetration reached 600 mm. At present, Chinese engineers are announcing the development of a new BPS, which is significantly superior to the existing analogues. The new projectile has a ratio of length to diameter 30 to 1 and initial velocity in 1780 m / s. Its armor penetration reaches 850 mm. Such a Chinese BPS may pose a significant threat to all existing tanks, including the Abrams M1A2 and T-90. According to a number of specialists, the guided weapons complex (KUV), based on the Russian 9М119 "Reflex" complex, may also be included in the armament of the tank.

The tank gun works in conjunction with the 22 roundabout carousel. AZ is supposed to be developed on the basis of the Soviet model with the introduction of a number of changes and the elimination of deficiencies. The total ammunition of the tank is 42 shot. It should be noted that, in contrast to Western analogues, the tank ammunition is not separated from the crew.

As an auxiliary weapon on the tank, a paired with weapons 7,62-mm machine gun, located to the right of the gun (2000 ammunition ammunition) and anti-aircraft 12,7-mm machine gun mounted on the turret in front of the commander's hatch (300 ammunition ammunition). Shooting from a coaxial machine gun is done with the aid of a electric trigger, the turret-based anti-aircraft gun has only manual control and provides fire only in the forward sector. Pointing angles of the anti-aircraft machine gun from -4 to + 75 degrees. On each side of the tower is mounted on one 5 barrel smoke grenade launcher.

An exclusive feature of the Chinese MBT is the presence of a laser active protection system of the tank JD-3*, which consists of a laser radiation warning system LRW (a hybrid sensor mounted on the turret behind the commander's hatch) and a combat quantum generator - LSDW (in a box-shaped housing on the turret behind the gunner's hatch).

Upon receipt of a signal about the irradiation of the tank with the laser beam of the enemy, this complex rotates the tank tower in the direction of the source of irradiation, after which the laser beam of weakened power turns on, which determines the exact location of the enemy target. After the target is calculated, the beam power rises to a critical level and disables the optical means or organs of vision of the enemy operator. According to experts, this complex is capable of striking human vision and optical devices at a distance of 2-3 km., Using the device 7-fold increase to 5 km., And at a distance of 10 km. may cause brief blinding flash. In addition to the combat function, this complex can serve as a laser connection between the tanks.

* JD3 can be classified as a blinding laser weapon, the development, production and testing of which, as well as its use, is prohibited by the UN. The ban is contained in the 4th protocol of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (13.10.1995)

Fire Control System

The SSA of the tank consists of combined sights of the commander and gunner with independent stabilization. The gunner's sight is equipped with a laser range finder and a thermal imaging channel. The image from the thermal imager is displayed on the 2 color display of the gunner and commander (the multiplicity of x5 and x11,4). The commander can fire a gun without the participation of the gunner. The sight of the tank commander is panoramic. Tank gun stabilized in 2-x planes. The tank is equipped with a digital ballistic computer, a set of sensors (indicators of atmospheric conditions, barrel wear, etc.), a multi-functional color commander's panel. The tank is equipped with a navigation system with satellite (GPS) and inertial channels, the data from which are fed to the commander's display and superimposed on a digital map of the area.

Accuracy is achieved through the use of a ballistic computer, a laser rangefinder, a sensor system, as well as a thermal casing for the barrel of a tank. Stabilization of the gun in two planes ensures high efficiency of firing in motion. The gun's rate of fire when using AZ reaches 8 shots per minute. Without it, 2 rounds per minute.

Engine and transmission

The tank is equipped with a turbocharged diesel water-cooled engine delivering power in 1500 hp. This diesel engine was developed on the basis of the German MB871ka501 engine. With a tank mass in 54 tons, this engine allows it to reach speeds in 80 km / h when driving on a highway and to 60 km / h when driving on rough terrain. Engine power density - 27,78 l / s per ton. Up to 32 km / h the tank can accelerate from the spot in just 12 seconds. The tank is equipped with a mechanical planetary transmission with 7 speeds for moving forward and 1 for moving back, this transmission is almost entirely borrowed from the Soviet T-72M tank. In the field, engine replacement can be done in 30-40 minutes.

The chassis of the tank consists of 6 track rollers and 4 supporting rollers on each side. Gable rollers are equipped with rubber tires, tank suspension torsion with hydraulic shock absorbers on the first two and the last suspension assembly. The drive wheel is located at the back (pinner engagement). The tank caterpillar is equipped with a rubber-metal hinge.

Sources used:
www.btvt.narod.ru/4/99.htm
www.otvaga2004.narod.ru/otvaga2004/china-tanks/0tank_t98g.htm
www.pro-tank.ru/brone-world/china/328-tank-type99-china

Comments

[frame5]

Propaganda.
In Chinese society, great-power motifs have been walking for a long time against the backdrop of consumer-friendly military-industrial complex, this tank is designed to break the pattern among the townsfolk, they say that's how we can.
They would have written: "Has no analogue!"

[His]

Great Chinese copiers

[neverwinter]

It really "has no analogue" because there is no one else like it and no one else has anything similar or equivalent

[Stefano]

2 videos are impressive. They just didn’t show after the explosion whether it will be able to function?

[Superduck]

And they did not say what ammunition and whether the ammunition and fuel were loaded into the tank.

[His]

I must say a good engine put 1500 hp

[nemo]

I saw this tank in China. During joint exercises. I climbed all over it, although they didn't give me much of a chance. A copy of the T-72. In everything except the turret. Even the engine was ours. With a turbocharger. What 60 km/h over rough terrain?? Don't make me laugh. It could barely go 40-50 km/h in a straight line. And you could hear it a kilometer away. Heavy, unwieldy and clumsy. They did hang on some armor, that's true. But where our T-80 flew like a swallow, the Type 99 crawled like an excellent target. The fire control system is an analogue of the T-72, the gun is the same. The difference in the turret is a pocket in the rear, in which there are 4 batteries for powering the fire control system when the engine is not running. The ammo is ours. Maybe it is new. But not in large numbers. There was no combat information display, much less a commander's sight. Something like that...

[Joker]

Tell me if I noticed, there AZ is our clone if purely externally?

[Joker]

Please tell me, is there an AZ from 80 or 72?

[Superduck]

I wonder why he refused the Kharkiv car kits?

[Superduck]

I wonder why they abandoned the Kharkov car kits ...

[nemo]

AZ was ours. And the gun is even native. Perhaps they upgraded, but how many of these machines?

[Joker]

Copied -removed-, after all, they weren’t sold a license for it (of course, it sounds naive in relation to the Chinese, but still).

[Superduck]

Not the fact that Ukraine did not sell by the way. It seems that the subject of the union in the Morozov Design Bureau was smoked mainly, and this design bureau with the Chinese still works very tightly.

[Joker]

They (Morozov's design bureau) have only MZ production technology (the loading mechanism, and it is on the T-64 and T-80), and here we are talking about AZ (automatic loading system), that is, like on the T-72. They are technically different.

[Superduck]

You directly puzzled me, I tried to google the difference and got lost. In a nutshell, one machine is a second semi-automatic? It seems that on the T-84 the choice of ammunition is done at the level of the SLA, i.e. according to the principles of telemechanics - automatic.

[Joker]

Both are fully automatic, I won’t tell you the difference in the principle of operation, maybe it doesn’t exist, but in the scheme there is a difference in the nuances and in that one design bureau called its creation AZ and the other MZ (I don’t remember anyone as though).

T-64 (T-80 / T-84):

- the horizontal arrangement of the shells, and the charges are arranged vertically in diameter, in a “slice” form, as it were, the Latin letter L;
- After the shot, the sleeve (corresponding to the remnants of smoke) is removed back to the combat station (this was done with the aim of increased radio-biological-chemical protection);

T-72 (T-90)

- shells and charges are located horizontally and in parallel (in my bottom shells on top of the charges);
- after a shot, a cartridge case with smoke residues is automatically thrown out through a special hatch in the tower;

[Superduck]

Yeah, I realized thanks, of course there is a difference but not a fundamental one. But as I understand it, it was silently saying that there were 80s of ours, which means that the machine was of the Kharkiv circuit, on the other hand, I think that he saw the 72nd machines in the eyes and didn’t explicitly say what the Chinese had.

[Joker]

TYPE-99 has the same hatch for ejecting spent cartridges, in the center of the tower behind the crew hatches, and I don’t think that the product from T-64 is so easy to remake under T-72, most likely illegal copying of a machine from seventy-two.

Outwardly, they differ quite significantly, so we’ll ask him (dumb).

[Superduck]

Quote: Joker

Yes, and I do not think that the product from the T-64 is so simple under the T-72

Ukraine has long been offering the 72nd with an automatic loader, but it seems the 72nd that remained in Ukraine from the USSR — they went without an automaton, they added their own, but they didn’t do their own after the collapse.

[Joker]

Please tell me, is there an AZ from 80 or 72?

[CARTRIDGE]

clone attack

[Sergey M.]

For SuperDuck

Well, you are in Pakistan, the Ukrainians are supplying their T-84. I think you know more, Kharkovite, than you say.
I can’t say anything bad about your new tanks. I do not know.
I know only from the Internet that your opposed 5TD, 6TD are unreliable and capricious.

[Superduck]

You don’t supply, but you did supply 15 years ago, and it wasn’t a T-84 but a T-80UD, i.e. a shallow modification of the 80, but with its own (Ukrainian) gun, fire control system, ballistic computers, a Bulgarian machine gun, and there was something else, I forgot, well, in short, everything that came from Russia before was made in their own way.

Quote: Sergey M.

I know only from the Internet that your opposed 5TD, 6TD are unreliable and capricious.

Of course, the 5TD and even 6TD engines were inferior to the V-92 in terms of efficiency and reliability. However, the Engine Design Bureau has firmly taken the Chinese bait, and now their machine kits (engine + gearbox) are licensed to be manufactured in China at a plant that the Kharkovites were setting up. Moreover, there was information that the Type 99 should be made on these machine kits. What I mean is that several modifications of these quite successful engines were actually manufactured there for Chinese money, the last of which are quite good. In addition to the Chinese, these machine kits (already Chinese-made) are purchased by the Pakistanis for their Al-Khalid tank, which is a licensed copy of the Chinese Type 90-II, which in turn... In short, the problem with dirty exhaust is closed, the problem with high temperatures and high-speed on it is also closed, against B92 it has a worse nominal flow situation, but they say that the practical consumption is not very different, because it has a different power curve. Well, in short, most childhood illnesses have been repaired for him in recent years. Familiar at the factory speak about the engine very well. Well, I think everyone knows the advantages of this line ..

[Joker]

I heard a lot of complaints about Chinese production engines, oil leaks, etc. (we are talking about tank generations of the last generation).

Oh, such an engine would be yes on the T-90 (6TD original) ..

[Superduck]

Well, as I understand it, legally, nothing prevented it from being produced in Russia, there would have been enough brains, on the other hand, when the question about the engine for the Russian Federation 5 / 6TD came up, it was still very raw and in Russia they decided not to get involved. Although there are certainly good diesel design bureaus in the Russian Federation, I think they could. Somewhere I read the recollections of an uncle who got an internship in the engine design bureau from some Russian plant where the B6 series was made even during the USSR. In short, he was struck by the perfect cleanliness of the workshop, the workers and engineers in white coats and the kakyata draconian quality system. Perhaps even at that time in Russia there was not enough production culture for them.

I heard a lot of complaints about Chinese production engines, oil leaks, etc. (we are talking about tank generations of the last generation).

Surprising? :-)

[Joker]

Quote: SuperDuck

Perhaps even at that time in Russia there was not enough production culture for them.

- the equipment was not enough, because all the loot banged on the gas turbine engine.

Quote: SuperDuck

Surprising? :-)

- rather, it makes me happy, it means we still have 15-20 years in reserve (first of all, I’m not talking about military confrontation, but about the development of production and technology).

[Superduck]

Quote: Joker

rather happy, then 15-20 years we still have in stock

The Kharkovites from China did not climb out for several years, they almost wore them there as sultans on a stretcher, the factory already worked with them. In short, our serious guys are struggling with quality, I think that 15 years there.