It is a competent tank. It’s hard to say past that, as China is notoriously and frustratingly secretive about everything relating to their weapons, meaning it can be extremely difficult to piece together how good they actually are. More often than not, we are left with only the manufacturers input on what they are actually capable off, and this is normally
This is the Chinese Type 99 Main Battle Tank. The Type 99A weighs in at 58 metric tons (63 US tons), about 10 tons less than the M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams. It’s armament is a 125 mm ZPT-98 smoothbore gun, which is probably very Soviet in heritage. The off-road top speed is 60 kph, or 37 mph, and the armor is classified (annoyingly). The powerplant is a diesel, developing 1500 hp, and the suspension is torsion bar (unsurprisingly). As a whole, it’s nothing revolutionary, but let me break down my views on this vehicle:
The Defense Intelligence Agency described the capabilities of Chinese armor in a 2018 report. “The PLA armored corps comprises a mix of older, obsolete tanks and a variety of more modern tanks.” China’s 3rd generation Main Battle Tank, the Type 99, is comparable to other 3rd generation Main Battle Tanks from around the world.
“The PLA is modernizing its armored units by fielding third-generation tanks with updated armor packages, larger-caliber cannons, improved fire-control systems, and advanced electronics and communications. The most capable of these tanks are the Type 96A and Type 99 main battle tank.”
Chinese weapons technology has in the past drawn heavily from other designs (often those of the Soviet Union), but much of China’s hardware is becoming more fully Chinese-made. This push towards a fully Chinese product has come a long way, although build quality and reliability may still be an issue.
The Type 99 was designed and built by Norinco, a Chinese state-owned defense company. What they’ve been able to do with the Type 99 is impressive.
In contrast to the majority of NATO countries, which typically have 120 millimeter main guns, the Type 99 has a slightly larger 125 millimeter cannon with an autoloader. The autoloader is responsible for reducing the crew to three.
The Type 99 comes equipped with a 1,500 horsepower diesel engine. Because of its relatively low weight (the Type 99 weighs around 55 tons, whereas the heaviest M1 Abrams variant tips the scales at over 70 tons), the Type 99 enjoys good mobility.
Norinco also developed the improved Type 99A variant in the mid-2000s. Although both the 99 and 99A are quite similar, the turret armor was improved and has a distinctive pointed shape.
