Type 99
Encyclopedia
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 a third generation main battle tank
(MBT) fielded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army
. It is made to compete with other modern tanks. Although not expected to be acquired in large numbers due to its high cost compared to the more economical Type 96
, it is currently the most advanced MBT fielded by China. The ZTZ99 MBT is a successor to the Type 98G tank manufactured for the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
tank was begun, and in April 1978, the development goals for the new project were set. The Soviet T-72
was the tank's primary projected combat target. In March 1979, Chinese government Institutes 617 and 201 developed the new Type 1224 experimental chassis, which had been installed with the MB8v331TC41 model tank imported from Germany. Later, another two models were developed, the Type 1226, with the "8V165", a 763 kW, 1,000-horsepower diesel engine by Factory 636, and the Type 1226F2, with the "12V150" 763 kW, 1,000-horsepower engine by Factory 616. All three prototypes were armed with 120 mm smoothbore
cannons. Ammunition was placed behind the turret, similar to the design philosophy of the German Leopard 2
A1.
After the designation of the Type 80 as the PRC's second-generation tank in 1981, groups emerged within the Chinese military
who argued that a third, more advanced tank generation was still needed. Out of these, two main camps emerged. One group argued for a design based on the Soviet T-72, with three crewmembers and a 125 mm autoloader
cannon. The other favored an Israeli Merkava
-styled design with a power pack closer to the front of the tank, a 120 mm semi-automatic-loading cannon, and a high-output diesel or gas turbine engine. The project was delayed for some years because of the division. Finally, in July 1984, the Army settled on the T-72-based design. In the summer of 1986, the plan was submitted to China's State Council
and Central Military Commission
. It was approved in the same year, and incorporated into the Major Weapons Development program of China's Seventh Five-Year Plan.
In the Spring of 1989, Norinco
signed a contract with the Chinese government to manufacture the Type 99. At the beginning of the following year, its Factory 617 produced the first Type 99 prototype. In 1993, the front armor plating on the Type 99 was increased from 600 mm to 700 mm to meet government specifications. In August 1994, two prototypes produced by Norinco underwent climate durability tests in southern China. During the tests, the prototypes were driven 3800 kilometers and 200 rounds were fired. In September 1994, reliability and fording
tests were carried out in the Tuoli and Huiahuling regions outside of Beijing. Additionally, from 1995 to 1996, three prototypes underwent arctic climate tests in Tahe County
, Heilongjiang
.
On March 12, 1996, the Type 99 project formally moved into the final stage of development. In May 1996, Norinco's Factory 617 started the assembly of a finalized prototype. At the end of December 1996, two finalized prototypes were again transported to Tahe for further arctic testing. Within the two-month testing period, the prototypes were driven a total of 6,900 kilometers and 20 government testing programs were completed. At the end of 1997, four finalized prototypes underwent additional testing, travelling a collective 20,000 kilometers and test firing 760 rounds. Finally, at the end of 1999, following over five years of extensive government testing, the design of the T-98, as it was then known, was fully completed. Its firepower, control systems, armor and electronics were deemed by the Army to have met or exceeded the project's original goals. Small-scale production of the T-98 was begun in time for the tank to be featured in the PRC's National Day
parade in 1999.
Following the completion of the T-98, research into improved versions of the tank continued within the Chinese government. These programs produced the Type 98G, a refined iteration of the T-98 with a better reliability record. At the end of 2001, the first batch of 40 Type 98G tanks entered service with the regular Army. The T-98G eventually gave rise to what is now known as the Type 99, which was officially revealed by the government in 2001. The final version of the Type 99 included a 1,500-horsepower engine, as opposed to its immediate predecessor's 1,200-horsepower powertrain. Also added were a Leopard 2A5-style sloped-arrow armor plate on the front of the turret, and additional composite armor layers on the sides.
Norinco's official designation for the Type 99 is "ZTZ-99". The tank is also known as the "WZ-123 MBT". The unit price for one Type 99 is estimated to be greater than 16 million yuan
, (2 million US, 1.6 million EUR). In part due to its high cost, the tank is not expected to be deployed in large numbers, unlike earlier Chinese designs such as the Type 59
. Because of the limited nature of its production, the Type 99 is currently only operated by the PLA
's most elite divisions, while the Type 96 tank has become the force's new backbone.
or T-80
while having a welded turret like most Western tanks. The aim was to create a tank which could defeat the Soviet T-72/T-80 and approach the capabilities of the German Leopard 2 and US M1A1.
This prototype is unique among current Chinese designs. Instead of an autoloader
, it has a fourth crew member to manually load the western-style single unit ammunition rounds. Traditional Soviet-style autoloaders were designed to separately load the propellant and warhead components. The transmission is manual instead of automatic like those on the newer Type 90. The tank can also fire DU (Depleted Uranium) rounds.
diesel engine
. It is able to fire depleted uranium
rounds.
water cooled diesel engine
and getting re-designed at some parts. The newest in trial is the Type 99KM.
The Type 99A2 has increased armor on the turret. The self-defense laser module has been replaced by an active defensive module. The ZTZ-99A2 also installed ERA on the front and side turret. The tank hull will follow the MBT 2000 configuration instead of the previously used hull.
The development of the new tank was initiated in the early 1990s during the Gulf War
. Western tanks had destroyed numerous Iraq
i Soviet-made T-72
s, which were superior to the most advanced tank in the PLA in design at the time: the Type 90 tank. The PLA realised that their tanks were no match for the Western MBT designs such as the Challenger 2 and M1A1
, and initiated a project to develop a new, modern main battle tank which eventually resulted in the Type 99. The design was heavily influenced by the Soviet T-80
and the German
Leopard 2
. Features include sloped turret armor for increased protection, among others. The driver's compartment is in the front while the fighting compartment lies directly behind it and the engine is installed in the rear.
To accommodate more equipment and ammunition, the Type 98'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 and exposes the turret ring, increasing the likelihood of hits from the front jamming the turret. Since then NORINCO provided the armor upgrades to the Type 99 which minimizes the gap to avoid a shot trap.
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 tank is equipped with an active laser
defense system. The laser warning receiver
can determine the location of an attacking enemy tank, while the high-powered laser dazzler can temporarily blind the enemy's optics. It can also be used as a secure communications device.
Further back on top of the turret is the type-9602 GPS navigation and position signal receiving antenna, its a two channel C/A code receiver and provide 3D military grade coordinates under all weather condition, data on tank's moving direction and speed along with those of the target can be established to provide suitable navigation route. type-9602 has a relatively low precision of 100m that fell short of some tactical requirement, once the Type 98G is equipped with the successfully developed GLONSS/GPS navigation and positioning system, the precision can be increased to 20 meters.
On the back of the gunner's hatch is an active laser suppression system designated JT-1, which is claimed to be designed to directly attack the various guidance systems on the opponent's weapon system. it can be operated by either the commander or the gunner, the laser ray could interfere or permanently damage IR sensor's components (laser ranger; night-vision equipment; TV camera head; telescopic sight; etc.) and has obvious effect against naked eyes. The system consists of a micro-computer control box; target tracking sub-system; laser suppressor and thermal image jammer. The system can be rotated 360 degrees, +90 degree to -12 degree, horizontal tracking speed 45 degree/sec, vertical tracking speed 40 degree/sec, laser energy output is 1.000 MHz, laser pulse's working repetition rate is 10ps, maximum working range is 4,000m, continues working time is 30min, laser beamer has a lifespan of 1.2 million. But other sources suspect it to be ATM guidance device, even a patent description claims it to be laser-based IFF system. A special reporting book published a photo of an electro-optical active protection suite resembling Russian Shtora, called JD-3, but it has never appeared on the Type 99 and instead appeared on some of the prototype 96Gs. In addition, the Type 98/99's driver is equipped with anti-laser glass for protection from similar systems fielded on an opponent's platform.
The ZTZ99's main armament includes a dual-axis fully stabilised 125 mm/50-calibre ZPT98 smoothbore
gun with a carousel-style autoloader
, a thermal sleeve, and a fume extractor. It is a further development of the 120 mm Chinese Design while many foreign observers thought it would be just a Chinese version of the Soviet 2A46M-1 type 125 mm gun. The Chinese gun with 120 mm turned out to be slightly better than 125 mm in some aspect, but 125 mm was chosen due to the selection of T-72-type autoloader. The 120 mm gun ended up on Type 89
self-propelled anti-tank gun with a semi-autoloader. The 125 mm tank gun was successfully developed as early as 1985. After continued improvement, the ZPT98 tank gun with 125 mm achieved higher bore pressure than the 120 mm.
The gun can be fired by either electronics or manual control. The gun barrel can be replaced within one hour. Loading is mechanical with 41 rounds carried inside the turret and vehicle hull while 22 rounds are stored within the autoloader. The gun can fire about 8 rounds per minute using autoloader and 1~2 rounds per minute with manual loading. Ammunition includes armour-piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), HEAT
, and HE-FRAG projectiles. China has also reportedly manufactured Soviet AT-11
laser-guided anti-tank missiles to be fired from the 125 mm gun for enemy tank with Explosive Reactive Armour, with an effective range of 4 km. In addition, the Chinese have developed depleted uranium
(DU) rounds for their tanks and these may be available for the Type 99. The 3rd generation kinetic energy armour-piercing ammunition for the 125 mm tank gun is the APFSDS round with a 30:1 length/calibre heavy tungsten alloy penetrator and the round has a muzzle velocity of 1,780 m/s and is claimed to be capable of penetrating 850 mm steel armour at a distance of 2.000 m. A depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round which is claimed to be able to penetrate 960 mm steel armour at a distance of 2.000 m and the accuracy range would be approx 5 km on non moving target with APFSDS depleted uranium.
From Type 98 to all Type 99 variants, they are all armed with a ZPT98 125 mm smoothbore gun with a length/calibre ratio of 51:1. the barrel is made of high-intensity PCrN13NoV, muzzle velocity is comparable to that of Soviet 2A46M-1 type 125 mm gun. hydraulic self-strengthening technology has resulted in a much stiffer barrel, the length is 6,412 mm, it has a lifetime of 700 armor-pieceing rounds. the thermal sleeve is of a double aluminium plate structure with air gap, it consist of 5 non-interchangeable parts, its effective rate is 70%. A severely damaged ZPT98 can have its parts repaired and/or replaced on the battlefield within one hour.
under test. The armor didn't sustain any significant damage after being shot by a T-72
C 125 mm armament seven times or a 105 mm armament nine times in a range of 1,800 meters, while rounds that are used in the test are unknown. The tank's front armor protection is claimed to be equivalent to 1,000~1,200 mm of steel armor, possibly against shaped charge warheads. Also, there are significant differences between the armor packages displayed on the current Type 99s and earlier 99 models seen in 1999.
Another theory that has been suggested is that the armor additions are not ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour), but composite layers in block form. The reason is that the blocks are too large to be effectively used as ERA, since one detonation leads to a large unprotected area. Further support is given in the fact that Eastern Bloc armies had two armor packages after the introduction of ERA. Live ERA blocks for wartime and composite blocks for peacetime, as maintaining ERA blocks during operational conditions is both expensive and hazardous as well as leading to an increase in weight.
Fire accuracy is attained by the laser rangefinder, wind sensor, ballistic computer, and thermal barrel sleeve, while essential muzzle reference system is invisible in released photographs. Dual axis stabilization ensures effective firing on the move. The commander has six periscopes and a stabilized panoramic sight. Both the commander and gunner have roof-mounted stabilized 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 narrow field of view magnification of ×11.4 and ×5 in wide field of view.
The Type 99 is also fitted with a computerized 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.
Main battle tank
A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...
(MBT) fielded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. It is made to compete with other modern tanks. Although not expected to be acquired in large numbers due to its high cost compared to the more economical Type 96
Type 96
The Type 96 is the latest Chinese third-generation main battle tank . Based on the Type 85-III design, the Type 96 entered service with the People's Liberation Army in 1997. As of 2005, an estimated 1,500 Type 96 tanks are currently in service with the PLA.Generally speaking, PLA's tank...
, it is currently the most advanced MBT fielded by China. The ZTZ99 MBT is a successor to the Type 98G tank manufactured for the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Development
At the end of 1970, the Type 122 Experimental Medium Tank project was aborted after three years of development. In February 1977, work on a second-generation PRCPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
tank was begun, and in April 1978, the development goals for the new project were set. The Soviet T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
was the tank's primary projected combat target. In March 1979, Chinese government Institutes 617 and 201 developed the new Type 1224 experimental chassis, which had been installed with the MB8v331TC41 model tank imported from Germany. Later, another two models were developed, the Type 1226, with the "8V165", a 763 kW, 1,000-horsepower diesel engine by Factory 636, and the Type 1226F2, with the "12V150" 763 kW, 1,000-horsepower engine by Factory 616. All three prototypes were armed with 120 mm smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
cannons. Ammunition was placed behind the turret, similar to the design philosophy of the German Leopard 2
Leopard 2
The Leopard 2 is a main battle tank developed by Krauss-Maffei in the early 1970s for the West German Army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the German Army. Various versions have served in the armed forces of Germany and twelve...
A1.
After the designation of the Type 80 as the PRC's second-generation tank in 1981, groups emerged within the Chinese military
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
who argued that a third, more advanced tank generation was still needed. Out of these, two main camps emerged. One group argued for a design based on the Soviet T-72, with three crewmembers and a 125 mm autoloader
Autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery...
cannon. The other favored an Israeli Merkava
Merkava
The Merkava is a main battle tank used by the Israel Defense Forces. The tank began development in 1974 and was first introduced in 1978. Four main versions of the tank have been deployed. It was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War...
-styled design with a power pack closer to the front of the tank, a 120 mm semi-automatic-loading cannon, and a high-output diesel or gas turbine engine. The project was delayed for some years because of the division. Finally, in July 1984, the Army settled on the T-72-based design. In the summer of 1986, the plan was submitted to China's State Council
State Council
State Council may refer to:In politics:* State Council of the Soviet Union, was the chief administrative authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...
and Central Military Commission
Central Military Commission
A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....
. It was approved in the same year, and incorporated into the Major Weapons Development program of China's Seventh Five-Year Plan.
In the Spring of 1989, Norinco
Norinco
The China North Industries Corporation , official English name Norinco, manufactures vehicles , machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, civil and military firearms and ammunition, etc...
signed a contract with the Chinese government to manufacture the Type 99. At the beginning of the following year, its Factory 617 produced the first Type 99 prototype. In 1993, the front armor plating on the Type 99 was increased from 600 mm to 700 mm to meet government specifications. In August 1994, two prototypes produced by Norinco underwent climate durability tests in southern China. During the tests, the prototypes were driven 3800 kilometers and 200 rounds were fired. In September 1994, reliability and fording
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
tests were carried out in the Tuoli and Huiahuling regions outside of Beijing. Additionally, from 1995 to 1996, three prototypes underwent arctic climate tests in Tahe County
Tahe County
Tahe County is a county in the far north of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of Daxing'anling Prefecture.-Climate:...
, Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
.
On March 12, 1996, the Type 99 project formally moved into the final stage of development. In May 1996, Norinco's Factory 617 started the assembly of a finalized prototype. At the end of December 1996, two finalized prototypes were again transported to Tahe for further arctic testing. Within the two-month testing period, the prototypes were driven a total of 6,900 kilometers and 20 government testing programs were completed. At the end of 1997, four finalized prototypes underwent additional testing, travelling a collective 20,000 kilometers and test firing 760 rounds. Finally, at the end of 1999, following over five years of extensive government testing, the design of the T-98, as it was then known, was fully completed. Its firepower, control systems, armor and electronics were deemed by the Army to have met or exceeded the project's original goals. Small-scale production of the T-98 was begun in time for the tank to be featured in the PRC's National Day
National Day of the People's Republic of China
The National Day of the People's Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1. It is a public holiday in the People's Republic of China to celebrate their national day.The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square...
parade in 1999.
Following the completion of the T-98, research into improved versions of the tank continued within the Chinese government. These programs produced the Type 98G, a refined iteration of the T-98 with a better reliability record. At the end of 2001, the first batch of 40 Type 98G tanks entered service with the regular Army. The T-98G eventually gave rise to what is now known as the Type 99, which was officially revealed by the government in 2001. The final version of the Type 99 included a 1,500-horsepower engine, as opposed to its immediate predecessor's 1,200-horsepower powertrain. Also added were a Leopard 2A5-style sloped-arrow armor plate on the front of the turret, and additional composite armor layers on the sides.
Norinco's official designation for the Type 99 is "ZTZ-99". The tank is also known as the "WZ-123 MBT". The unit price for one Type 99 is estimated to be greater than 16 million yuan
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
, (2 million US, 1.6 million EUR). In part due to its high cost, the tank is not expected to be deployed in large numbers, unlike earlier Chinese designs such as the Type 59
Type 59
The Type 59 main battle tank is a Chinese produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an improvement over the ubiquitous T-54/55. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
. Because of the limited nature of its production, the Type 99 is currently only operated by the PLA
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
's most elite divisions, while the Type 96 tank has become the force's new backbone.
Type 98
The Chinese government made a decision to modernize their tank force by incorporating advanced features into their next-generation MBT, as their older tanks were becoming ineffective. The resulting tank had a hull (chassis) similar to the T-72T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
or T-80
T-80
The T-80 is a main battle tank designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union. A development of the T-64, it entered service in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 of 1971 used a gas turbine alongside...
while having a welded turret like most Western tanks. The aim was to create a tank which could defeat the Soviet T-72/T-80 and approach the capabilities of the German Leopard 2 and US M1A1.
Type 98
Autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery...
, it has a fourth crew member to manually load the western-style single unit ammunition rounds. Traditional Soviet-style autoloaders were designed to separately load the propellant and warhead components. The transmission is manual instead of automatic like those on the newer Type 90. The tank can also fire DU (Depleted Uranium) rounds.
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. The power plant is a domestic 150HB 1,200-hpHorsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
. It is able to fire depleted uranium
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
rounds.
Type 99
The basic variant of the Type 99 series. The latest variant that is in full service is the Type 99A2 with a 1,500-hpHorsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
water cooled diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
and getting re-designed at some parts. The newest in trial is the Type 99KM.
The Type 99A2 has increased armor on the turret. The self-defense laser module has been replaced by an active defensive module. The ZTZ-99A2 also installed ERA on the front and side turret. The tank hull will follow the MBT 2000 configuration instead of the previously used hull.
Type 99G
CNGC has been deploying a further modified version of the ZTZ99, possibly known as ZTZ99G. A photo released by the Chinese official Xinhua News Agency in February 2008 revealed an improved variant of the ZTZ99 that features newly designed observation and active protection system (APS). The commander viewer of the new tank appears to be slightly larger than that of the basic variant ZTZ99, suggesting a possible independent commander thermal imaging viewer.Type 99A1
The Type 99A1 is the latest version in service of the PLA while the more advanced variant the Type 99A2 is still in various trials and did not make it to the National Day Parade in 2009. While the earlier Type 99 that entered service several years ago had additional armor packages on the original Type 98 turret and the chassis, the Type 99A1 has its turret top reshaped, having the hump on the turret's top removed by thickening it. This might be the result for changing the height of the turret itself to improve more protection or more space for the tank commander and gunner. Other distinct details are the armor packages on the front and at its sides, the ERA panels have been extended. The Type 99A1 might also have received further upgrades in terms of targeting computers etc.Type 99A2
The much-improved Type 99 variant, with many major upgrades and improvements. Some of the improvement and upgrades include a reaction improved aiming system, a digital battlefield information terminal, a newly designed arrow-shaped armor, a larger turret, an expanded tail chamber, an Active Protection System mounted on the turret with millimeter-wave radar, a new commander's periscope and an Integrated Propulsion System.Design
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. Western tanks had destroyed numerous Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i Soviet-made T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
s, which were superior to the most advanced tank in the PLA in design at the time: the Type 90 tank. The PLA realised that their tanks were no match for the Western MBT designs such as the Challenger 2 and M1A1
M1A1
M1A1, M1-A1, M1 A1, or M-1A1 may refer to:* M1A1 Flamethrower, an anti-personnel weapon* a variant of the M1 Abrams battle tank* a variant of the M1 carbine* a variant of the Thompson submachine gun...
, and initiated a project to develop a new, modern main battle tank which eventually resulted in the Type 99. The design was heavily influenced by the Soviet T-80
T-80
The T-80 is a main battle tank designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union. A development of the T-64, it entered service in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 of 1971 used a gas turbine alongside...
and the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Leopard 2
Leopard 2
The Leopard 2 is a main battle tank developed by Krauss-Maffei in the early 1970s for the West German Army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the German Army. Various versions have served in the armed forces of Germany and twelve...
. Features include sloped turret armor for increased protection, among others. The driver's compartment is in the front while the fighting compartment lies directly behind it and the engine is installed in the rear.
To accommodate more equipment and ammunition, the Type 98'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 and exposes the turret ring, increasing the likelihood of hits from the front jamming the turret. Since then NORINCO provided the armor upgrades to the Type 99 which minimizes the gap to avoid a shot trap.
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 tank is equipped with an active laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
defense system. The laser warning receiver
Laser warning receiver
A laser warning receiver is a type of warning system used as a passive military defence. It detects laser emission from laser guidance systems and laser rangefinders. Then it alerts the crew and can start various countermeasures, like smoke wall, aerosol screen A laser warning receiver is a type of...
can determine the location of an attacking enemy tank, while the high-powered laser dazzler can temporarily blind the enemy's optics. It can also be used as a secure communications device.
Counter Measures and Communications
The type-VHF-2000 tank communication system on Type 98 (and mostly the Type 99 too) has electronic countermeasures, electro-magnetic compatibility and multiple workstation capability. Mounted behind the commander's hatch is a laser communication and IFF system. It is a compact and multifunctional system used for IFF, sending digital command signal, voiced communication and laser detection. its receiver could function as a laser warning system on the wavelength of 0.9–1.06 µm. it has a working range of >3,600m. up and down angle of +45 degree to -10 degree (same as the commander's sight), 360 degree at horizontal level, target detection time is <0.6sec, 60 encrypted IFF code is stored in the system.Further back on top of the turret is the type-9602 GPS navigation and position signal receiving antenna, its a two channel C/A code receiver and provide 3D military grade coordinates under all weather condition, data on tank's moving direction and speed along with those of the target can be established to provide suitable navigation route. type-9602 has a relatively low precision of 100m that fell short of some tactical requirement, once the Type 98G is equipped with the successfully developed GLONSS/GPS navigation and positioning system, the precision can be increased to 20 meters.
On the back of the gunner's hatch is an active laser suppression system designated JT-1, which is claimed to be designed to directly attack the various guidance systems on the opponent's weapon system. it can be operated by either the commander or the gunner, the laser ray could interfere or permanently damage IR sensor's components (laser ranger; night-vision equipment; TV camera head; telescopic sight; etc.) and has obvious effect against naked eyes. The system consists of a micro-computer control box; target tracking sub-system; laser suppressor and thermal image jammer. The system can be rotated 360 degrees, +90 degree to -12 degree, horizontal tracking speed 45 degree/sec, vertical tracking speed 40 degree/sec, laser energy output is 1.000 MHz, laser pulse's working repetition rate is 10ps, maximum working range is 4,000m, continues working time is 30min, laser beamer has a lifespan of 1.2 million. But other sources suspect it to be ATM guidance device, even a patent description claims it to be laser-based IFF system. A special reporting book published a photo of an electro-optical active protection suite resembling Russian Shtora, called JD-3, but it has never appeared on the Type 99 and instead appeared on some of the prototype 96Gs. In addition, the Type 98/99's driver is equipped with anti-laser glass for protection from similar systems fielded on an opponent's platform.
Armament
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
gun with a carousel-style autoloader
Autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery...
, a thermal sleeve, and a fume extractor. It is a further development of the 120 mm Chinese Design while many foreign observers thought it would be just a Chinese version of the Soviet 2A46M-1 type 125 mm gun. The Chinese gun with 120 mm turned out to be slightly better than 125 mm in some aspect, but 125 mm was chosen due to the selection of T-72-type autoloader. The 120 mm gun ended up on Type 89
Type 89 (Tank Destroyer)
The Type 89 tank destroyer is a Chinese armored vehicle that entered service in 1988. Armed with a 120 millimeter smoothbore gun, it was intended to combat newer generations of Western and Russian main battle tanks that were equipped with composite armor and 120 and 125 millimeter caliber guns...
self-propelled anti-tank gun with a semi-autoloader. The 125 mm tank gun was successfully developed as early as 1985. After continued improvement, the ZPT98 tank gun with 125 mm achieved higher bore pressure than the 120 mm.
The gun can be fired by either electronics or manual control. The gun barrel can be replaced within one hour. Loading is mechanical with 41 rounds carried inside the turret and vehicle hull while 22 rounds are stored within the autoloader. The gun can fire about 8 rounds per minute using autoloader and 1~2 rounds per minute with manual loading. Ammunition includes armour-piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), HEAT
High explosive anti-tank
High explosive anti-tank warheads are made of an explosive shaped charge that uses the Munroe effect to create a very high-velocity partial stream of metal in a state of superplasticity that can punch through solid armor....
, and HE-FRAG projectiles. China has also reportedly manufactured Soviet AT-11
AT-11 Sniper
The 9M119 Svir and 9M119M Refleks are laser beam riding, guided anti-tank missiles developed in the former Soviet Union. The two missiles are similar, but vary in range and launch platform. Both are designed to be fired from smooth bore 125 mm tank and anti-tank gun . Their NATO reporting name...
laser-guided anti-tank missiles to be fired from the 125 mm gun for enemy tank with Explosive Reactive Armour, with an effective range of 4 km. In addition, the Chinese have developed depleted uranium
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
(DU) rounds for their tanks and these may be available for the Type 99. The 3rd generation kinetic energy armour-piercing ammunition for the 125 mm tank gun is the APFSDS round with a 30:1 length/calibre heavy tungsten alloy penetrator and the round has a muzzle velocity of 1,780 m/s and is claimed to be capable of penetrating 850 mm steel armour at a distance of 2.000 m. A depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round which is claimed to be able to penetrate 960 mm steel armour at a distance of 2.000 m and the accuracy range would be approx 5 km on non moving target with APFSDS depleted uranium.
From Type 98 to all Type 99 variants, they are all armed with a ZPT98 125 mm smoothbore gun with a length/calibre ratio of 51:1. the barrel is made of high-intensity PCrN13NoV, muzzle velocity is comparable to that of Soviet 2A46M-1 type 125 mm gun. hydraulic self-strengthening technology has resulted in a much stiffer barrel, the length is 6,412 mm, it has a lifetime of 700 armor-pieceing rounds. the thermal sleeve is of a double aluminium plate structure with air gap, it consist of 5 non-interchangeable parts, its effective rate is 70%. A severely damaged ZPT98 can have its parts repaired and/or replaced on the battlefield within one hour.
Armor
Currently, the actual armor composition of the Type-99/ZTZ-99 remains unknown. There are public photos of experimental Chinese composite armors, specifically Al2O3Transparent alumina
Many ceramic materials, both glassy and crystalline, have found use as optically transparent materials in various forms from bulk solid-state components to high surface area forms such as thin films, coatings and fibers....
under test. The armor didn't sustain any significant damage after being shot by a T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
C 125 mm armament seven times or a 105 mm armament nine times in a range of 1,800 meters, while rounds that are used in the test are unknown. The tank's front armor protection is claimed to be equivalent to 1,000~1,200 mm of steel armor, possibly against shaped charge warheads. Also, there are significant differences between the armor packages displayed on the current Type 99s and earlier 99 models seen in 1999.
Another theory that has been suggested is that the armor additions are not ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour), but composite layers in block form. The reason is that the blocks are too large to be effectively used as ERA, since one detonation leads to a large unprotected area. Further support is given in the fact that Eastern Bloc armies had two armor packages after the introduction of ERA. Live ERA blocks for wartime and composite blocks for peacetime, as maintaining ERA blocks during operational conditions is both expensive and hazardous as well as leading to an increase in weight.
Fire Control and observation
The Type 99 is also fitted with a computerized 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.
Propulsion
The Type 99 is powered by a liquid cooled, turbocharged 1,500 hp diesel derived from the German MB871ka501 diesel technology. At its current battle weight of 54 tons, this gives a power-to-weight ratio of about 27.78 hp/ton. The maximum speed on road is 80 km/h and 65 km/h cross country. Acceleration from 0 to 32 km/h only takes 12 seconds. The transmission provides seven forward and one reverse gears.See also
- Type 59/62Type 59The Type 59 main battle tank is a Chinese produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an improvement over the ubiquitous T-54/55. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
- Type 69/79Type 69/79The Type 69 and Type 79 are two models of Chinese main battle tanks. Both developments of the Type 59 , they were the first independently-developed main battle tanks by China. Their lineage can be seen through the distinct gap between the first and second roadwheels...
- Type 80/85/88Type 88 (tank)The Type 88 is a series of second-generation main battle tanks from China. Based on the Type 79 design, the Type 88 entered service with the People's Liberation Army in the 1980s. As of 2003, an estimated 500 Type 88 MBTs are currently in service with the PLA...
- Type 90/96Type 96The Type 96 is the latest Chinese third-generation main battle tank . Based on the Type 85-III design, the Type 96 entered service with the People's Liberation Army in 1997. As of 2005, an estimated 1,500 Type 96 tanks are currently in service with the PLA.Generally speaking, PLA's tank...
- MBT 2000/Al-Khalid
- Type 98/99
- T-72T-72The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
- M-84M-84The M-84 is a Yugoslav 2nd generation main battle tank. The M-84 is in service in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kuwait, Slovenia and Serbia.-Development and production:...
- M-95M-95 DegmanM-95 Degman is a prototype Croatian main battle tank, developed in the factory Đuro Đaković specijalna vozila d.d., located in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. It is also known as the RH-ALAN Degman. The Đuro Đaković factory is best known for its principal role in the production of M-84, a Yugoslav version...
- PT-91PT-91The PT-91 Twardy is a Polish main battle tank. It is a development of the T-72M1 and first entered service in 1995...
- M-2001M-2001The M-84AS is a modernized version of the M-84 main battle tank produced by Yugoimport SDPR in Serbia. M-84AS is sometimes refeared to as M-84AB1 and M-2001.-Design:...
- T-80T-80The T-80 is a main battle tank designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union. A development of the T-64, it entered service in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 of 1971 used a gas turbine alongside...
- T-84T-84The T-84 is a Ukrainian main battle tank, a development of the Soviet T-80 main battle tank. It was first built in 1994 and entered service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1999. The T-84 is based on the diesel-engined T-80 version, the T-80UD...
- T-90T-90The T-90 is a Russian third-generation main battle tank that is a modernisation of the T-72 . It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Naval Infantry...
- T-95T-95T-95 is the common informal designation of a Russian fifth generation tank that was under development at Uralvagonzavod before being cancelled in May 2011.-History:...
External links
- Type 99 at Army-technology.com
- Type 99 at Sinodefence.com
- Type 99 tank images and intro in Chinese
- 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 rusi.org