Type 99
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Type 99 (disambiguation).
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| Type 99 | |
|---|---|
| General characteristics | |
| Crew | 3/4 |
| Length | 11.0 m |
| Width | 3.4 m |
| Height | 2.2 m |
| Weight | 54 tonnes |
| Armour and armament | |
| Armour | [secret] |
| Main armament | 125 mm smoothbore tank gun |
| Secondary armament | 12.7 mm commander's machine gun, 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun |
| Mobility | |
| Power plant | liquid-cooled diesel 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Road speed | 80 km/h |
| Power/weight | 27.4 hp/tonne |
| Range | 450 km, 600 km with external fuel |
The Type 99, also known as ZTZ-99 and WZ-123, developed from the Type 98G (in turn, a development of the Type 98), is the latest main battle tank (MBT) fielded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has increased firepower, mobility and protection compared to older tanks such as the Type 59, Type 69/79, and Type 88. Though not expected to be acquired in large numbers due to its high cost compared to the more economical Type 96, it is the most advanced MBT fielded by China yet.
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[edit] Development
The tank was revealed in October 1999 during the national parade and entered service in small numbers for operational tests and evaluation before the finalisation of the design.
The production version, known initially as Type 98 and later as Type 98G, and finally Type 99, was revealed in 2001. It had an improved engine, additional Leopard 2A5-style armour on the turret front and sides, and explosive reactive armour.
The official manufacturer's designation seems to be ZTZ-99. The tank is also known by its industrial index as the WZ-123 MBT. The unit price is greater than 16 million renminbi yuan (2006 price, ~2 million USD, ~1.6 million EUR).
In part due to its high cost, this tank will not be deployed in large numbers, like earlier models such as Type 59.
[edit] Type 98
After purchasing one hundred T-80 tanks from Russia, the decision was made to incorporate some of its features into China's next-generation MBT, because the current generation of Chinese tanks were inadequate. The result was a new tank with a chassis similar to T-72 or T-80.
[edit] Type 98
This prototype is unique among current Chinese designs: it has a fourth crew member instead of an autoloader. The reason is that China had developed western-style ammunition rounds, where the propellant and warhead are integrated in a single unit instead of two separate parts, and the traditional Russian-made autoloader that handles the separate propellant and warhead was not suited to handle them. The transmission is manual instead of automatic like those on the newer Type 90.
[edit] Type 98G
The most obvious feature is that a modified autoloader was installed so that the crew was reduced to three from the original four. China has finally mastered the engine technology introduced from the West and Ukraine, and the power plant is a domestic 150HB 1,200-hp diesel engine.
[edit] Type 99
The latest member developed from the Type 98G with a 1,500-hp water-cooled diesel engine.
[edit] Design
The design of the Type 99 was influenced by the Soviet T-72 and the German Leopard 2. It also has features new to the PLA, such as sloped turret armour for increased protection. The driver's compartment is in the front, with the fighting compartment directly behind, and power pack in the rear.
To accommodate more equipment and ammunition, the Type 99's turret is slightly larger than that of the Type 90, resulting in a gap between the turret and hull in the front. This could be a major disadvantage in battle as it acts as a shot trap (much like the overhang on the German Leopard 2 and Israeli Merkava) and exposes the turret ring, increasing the likelihood of hits from the front jamming the turret.
This effect, however, is not to be confused with the World War II shot-trap effect, for modern long-rod kinetic energy penetrators (APFSDS) behave in a different manner to traditional solid shot armour-piercing rounds. The Leopard 2A5 and 2A6 also feature this wedge on the turret front, which is (on the Leopard, anyway) deliberately designed in such a way as to subject an incoming APFSDS round to yaw forces. This places the penetrator under enormous stress, so much so that it may shear, thus preventing its penetration of the turret. The projectile still imparts its kinetic energy to the turret, but not in a fashion that will penetrate the armour.
In addition, the Type 99 also lacks features often found on Western MBTs, which minimise the damage caused by HEAT projectiles. For example, armour bulkheads separating the crew compartment from the fuel tanks and ammunition. Top panels designed to blow outwards in case of explosion are absent. This could lead to low damage survivability in combat, judging from to the experiences of the 1991 Gulf War.
The tank is equipped with an active laser defence system. The designers claim the laser warning receiver can determine the location of an attacking enemy tank, while the high-powered laser dazzler can damage or destroy the enemy's optics. It can also be used as a secure communications device.
[edit] Armament
The main armament is a fully-stabilised 125mm smoothbore gun with an autoloader. Despite the early reports indicating the gun was a licensed copy of the Russian 2A46, it is actually an indigenous design derived from the Chinese 125mm smoothbore gun. The autoloader, however, is an improvement from the Russian autoloader used in T-80, and modified to fire western-style munitions designed in China.
Ammunition includes armour-piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high explosive anti-tank (HEAT), and high explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) projectiles. China has also reportedly manufactured Russian AT-11 laser-guided anti-tank missiles (ATGM) to be fired from the 125 mm gun. In addition, the Chinese have experimentally developed depleted uranium (DU) rounds for their tanks and these may be available for use in the Type 99.
[edit] Armour
The front armour of the Type 99 is speculated to be three steel plates sandwiching two ceramic plates, giving protection approximately equivalent to 500 mm of RHA.[citation needed] After explosive reactive armour (ERA) is added, it is said to be equivalent to 1,000 mm of RHA.[citation needed]
As of December 18, 2005, the actual armour composition of the Type-99/ZTZ-99 remains unknown. There are public photos of experimental Chinese composite armours, specifically Al2O3. Also, there are significant differences between the armour packages displayed on the current Type 99s and the ones first seen in 2004. Most speculate that the current tanks have a layer of reactive armour attached to the turret and the glacis plate.[citation needed] Also interesting is that the additional frontal turret protection might very well be closely related to the latest Pakistani Al-Khalid's frontal turret protection, which consists of spaced armour (as found on German Leopard 2A5s and onward) covered with ERA. This, however, is disputed due to the fact that traditional spaced armour requires much more depth than the additions the Type 99 has received.
[edit] Fire Control and observation
Fire accuracy is attained by the laser rangefinder, wind sensor, ballistic computer, and thermal barrel sleeve. Dual axis stabilisation ensures effective firing on the move. The commander is has six periscopes and a stabilised panoramic sight. Both the commander and gunner have roof-mounted stabilised sights fitted with day/thermal channels, a laser rangefinder and an auto tracker facility. The commander has a display showing the gunner's thermal sight, enabling the commander to fire the main gun. The Thermal Imaging System (TIS) with cooled detector using processing in the element (SPRITE) technology has magnification x11.4 narrow field of view and x5 wide field of view.
The Type 99 is also fitted with a compuerised onboard information processing system, which can collect information from vehicle navigation (Inertia/GPS), observation systems and sensors, process it in the computer and display it on the commander's display, giving the ability of real-time command and beyond-vision-range target engaging.
[edit] Propulsion
The Type 99 is powered by a liquid cooled, turbocharged 1,500hp diesel derived from the German MB871ka501 diesel technology. At its current battle weight of 54t, this gives a power-to-weight ratio of about 27.78. The maximum speed by road is 80km/h and 60km/h cross country. Acceleration from 0 speed to 32km/h only takes 12 seconds. The transmission provides seven forward and one reverse gears.
[edit] See also
Type 59/62 - Type 69/79 - Type 80/85/88/90/96 - Type 98/99 - T-72 - T-90
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Type 99 at Sinodefence.com
- The Chinese Type 99 Main Battle Tank: A New Beast from the East - China-Defense.com
- The New Chinese Type 99 MBT: A Second Look Reveals More Details - China-Defense.com
- Type 99 at Globalsecurity.org
- Type 98 at Armor ID Page
- Type 98 at centurychina fourm
- Type 98 at rusi.org
| Ariete | Arjun | Challenger 2 | Ch'onma-ho | K1 | Leclerc | Leopard 2 | M1 Abrams | M-84 Merkava | PT-91 Twardy | T-80 | T-84 | T-90 | Type 90 | Type 96 | Type 99 |
