ZTZ99 main battle tank is the third generation main battle tank in China and the most advanced main battle tank in our army at present. It was listed as a key weapon development project during the Seventh Five-Year Plan, and 1989 was approved as WZ 123 tank. After ten years of research and development, it was put into production in small batches in 1998, and participated in the National Day military parade in 1999, so it was mistakenly called Type 98 tank by the outside world.
Since the 1980s, most of the main battle tanks equipped by countries all over the world entered the third-generation main battle tanks after the war. The firepower, maneuverability and protective performance of western main battle tanks such as Leopard 2 and M 1A2 have reached the peak.
When fighting back against Vietnam in self-defense, our army was still equipped with a large number of first-generation 59 tanks, which exposed many wartime problems. The development of tanks in China urgently needs to catch up with other countries in the world. In the 1980s, the second-generation main battle tanks 80 and 85 developed and equipped by our army adopted the technology of western tanks, which was different from the Soviet-style equipment used by our army for a long time, and the overall performance reached the excellent level of the second-generation main battle tanks after the war. However, due to the late finalization, the former Soviet Union and western developed countries have equipped the third-generation main battle tanks such as T-80, M 1A2 and Leopard 2 on a large scale, so the 80-series main battle tanks are only equipped with a small number of troops.
Iraqi Chinese-made Type 69 tanks destroyed by allied tanks in the Gulf War. During the Gulf War, domestic and Russian-made weapons were almost vulnerable, which greatly shocked the top military of China.
In order to catch up with the world's third-generation main battle tank as soon as possible, China has stepped up the development of the third-generation main battle tank. There is internal discussion on whether the third generation tank adopts western tank design or traditional Soviet style. As China has acquired the technology of Soviet T-72 main battle tank, supplemented by some more advanced tank technologies in the West (such as some technologies of Leopard 2 tank), it decided to start developing the third-generation main battle tank based on Soviet design, and started research and development on 1989, with the project code WZ 123. Due to the western arms embargo on China from 65438 to 0989, China was able to make full use of its own strength to start developing the third-generation main battle tank.
1998 The third generation tanks were initially developed successfully, and the troops were assembled on a small scale. 1999, a new type of main battle tank participated in the National Day military parade, which was called Type 98 tank. After 1999 was finalized, it was officially named ZTZ99 main battle tank. The Type 99 tank with modular wedge armor hanging in front of the turret looks terrible.
Due to the late finalization, the Type 80 tank became obsolete as soon as it appeared. Although it is only a small-scale equipment, it has opened the way for the development of a series of tanks in China.
The chassis of Type 99 main battle tank draws lessons from the chassis of T-72 main battle tank of the former Soviet Union. The total combat weight exceeds 50 tons. When the artillery advances, the total length of the vehicle is about 10 meter, the width is about 3.5 meters, and the height is about 2.4 meters. Compared with the previous domestic tanks, the geometric size of the Type 99 main battle tank is much larger, which provides conditions for accommodating 125mm artillery, high-power engines and advanced fire control systems. Type 99 tank weighs more than 50 tons, combined with a large number of composite armor, and its protection level has made a qualitative leap compared with 80 series tanks, reaching the level of the third generation main battle tanks in the West.
Type 99 main battle tank adopts traditional tank layout, and the cockpit, combat cabin and power cabin are arranged in turn from front cabin to rear cabin. Type 99 driver is located in the front center of the car body, conductor and gunner are located in the battle cabin, gunner is on the left and gunner is on the right. The power transmission module is in the back, separated from the battle module by an armored deck.
Different from the traditional tanks of our army, in appearance, the Type 99 turret does not adopt the traditional Soviet oval casting turret, but adopts the western-style turret with welded structure. In the era of composite armor, welded turret began to show its advantages, because compared with T-72 oval casting turret, welded turret is beneficial to the layout of composite armor modules with large thickness and large inclination. The three generations of western tanks, such as M 1A2, Leopard 2 and Challenger, have established their protective advantages against T-72 and T-80 tanks because of the use of casting turrets.
125mm tank gun system
Similar to the configuration of the T-72 tank in the former Soviet Union, the Type 99 has three crew members, equipped with a 50-caliber 125mm large-caliber smoothbore gun and an automatic loader, and can launch armor-piercing projectiles, armor-piercing projectiles, grenades and gun-launched missiles with stable tail. The ammunition base is estimated to be more than 40 rounds, and the maximum firing rate can reach 10 rounds/minute. When the tungsten alloy tail is used to stabilize the armor-piercing projectile, it can penetrate 890 mm homogeneous armor at a distance of 2000 meters, while when the depleted uranium armor-piercing projectile is used, the armor-piercing ability can reach more than 960 mm at the same distance.
During the Cold War, China faced the strong pressure from the armored flood of the former Soviet Union for a long time, so it attached great importance to the research of tank guns and armor-piercing projectiles with stable tails. Plus the introduction and absorption of Russian and western artillery technology after the reform and opening up. The 125mm gun of Type 99 main battle tank and its supporting armor-piercing projectiles have surpassed the Russian 125mm tank gun, and are at the same level as similar products in the United States and Germany.
In terms of fire control system, Type 99 main battle tank is equipped with independent sight-observing device, thermal imager, laser ranging system, digital fire control and navigation system for commander and gunner. The detection distance is claimed to be 7-9 kilometers, and it can still reach 3-4 kilometers under bad weather conditions. The first hit rate of the moving target is 85%, and the commander has the ability to surpass the shooting. Although the relevant situation is unknown, these data have reached the level of the third-generation main battle tanks in the West.
The 99-type main battle tank is equipped with an advanced down-reflection image stabilization fire control system, which belongs to the director digital tank fire control system. It uses a two-degree-of-freedom gyroscope to stabilize the lower reflection prism in the sight and realize the two-way stability of the gunner's line of sight. When aiming, the gunner controls the sight to aim at the tracking target, and the gun follows the sight. When the tank moves, the gunner looks out from the sight, and the target and background in the sight are almost motionless, which greatly facilitates the gunner's shooting when the tank moves, and only needs to aim once. A gunner of Type 99 main battle tank also said in an interview that as long as the third-generation tank aims at the target, the artillery is attracted to the target like a magnet, and no matter how the car body fluctuates, the artillery still points in the direction of the target. The Type 99 main battle tank is different from the China tanks in the past because it is equipped with a lower anti-image stabilization fire control system. It can shoot more accurately while moving. In addition, the Type 99 tank adopts the internationally advanced and popular hunter-fighter fire control system (also known as double command ceremony), and its most remarkable feature is that the commander can control the fire control system beyond the gunner.
From this close-up of the 99G turret, we can clearly see the main sighting equipment: the commander sighting system integrated in the square box below the left upper machine gun, and the mushroom-shaped equipment covered by the machine gun is a crosswind sensor; The window on the right half-buried turret is an independent gunner aiming system, which meets the standards of the third generation main battle tank in the west.
Auxiliary firepower
There is a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun on the right side of the turret of Type 99 tank, and a 7.62mm parallel machine gun on the right side of the gun body. Compared with western main battle tanks, domestic tanks generally ignore the careful configuration of auxiliary firepower. The machine guns of western tanks are generally mounted on a ring gun rack, with a wide range, which is beneficial for tanks to suppress approaching infantry. The 12.7mm machine gun of Type 99 tank is installed on the fixed gun base, and the left and right shooting boundaries are greatly limited.
Due to the intensification of urbanization in human society, future ground battles are likely to start in cities, and the auxiliary firepower of tanks is becoming more and more important. Western countries have accordingly introduced unmanned weapon stations to facilitate tank crews to control auxiliary firepower such as machine guns and automatic Grenade launchers in vehicles, but this equipment is still in its infancy in China.
The turret of Type 99 main battle tank does not adopt cobblestone casting turret, but adopts welded structure, which avoids the uneven armor thickness caused in the casting process and greatly improves the armor protection performance compared with the old China tank. The composite armor of Type 99 tank is 220 mm thick with an inclination of 68 degrees, and the front part is equipped with wedge-shaped modular armor. The frontal protection reaches 700 mm, and the car body protection ability is equivalent to the homogeneous steel armor with a thickness of 500 ~ 600 mm If new active reactive armor is installed on the turret and car body, the armor resistance and armor penetration ability can reach 1000 ~ 1200 mm.
As we all know, the biggest impact part of the tank is the turret. Type 99 main battle tank has made great efforts in turret armor and its protective performance is outstanding. In the low temperature test conducted in the winter of 1997, Type 99 tank was attacked by 14 armor-piercing projectile with 105 tail, and none of them could penetrate its front armor.
In addition to armor protection, the Type 99 main battle tank has 10 launchers on both sides of the turret, which can launch smoke bombs to create smoke screens to interfere with the enemy. In addition, by injecting fuel into the exhaust pipe, the Type 99 tank can create a smoke screen lasting for 4 minutes and up to 400 meters at the farthest.
The most striking feature of the 99G main battle tank with total reactive armor is that the front end of the turret is equipped with a wedge-shaped additional armor module similar to that installed in the German Leopard IIA5 tank, which greatly enhances the frontal protection capability; Both sides of the turret have also been reinforced accordingly.
The power system of Type 99 tank adopts WR703/ 150HB series diesel engine, which is developed from MB870 series V liquid-cooled diesel engine of MTU company in Germany, and the engine output power can be as high as 1500 horsepower. The engine can provide high maneuverability for the total combat weight of Type 99 tank exceeding 50 tons. Type 99 tank adopts torsion spring suspension system, the maximum road speed can reach 70-80 km/h, the acceleration time of 0-32k m is only 12 second, and the maximum stroke can reach 450 km.
However, the reliability of engine and transmission system has always been the bottleneck of tank development in China. Although there is still a big gap between the engine of Type 99 tank and the standards of western developed industrial countries, it is believed that with the successful development of a new generation of high-power engines in the future, this gap will continue to narrow.
In terms of firepower, Type 99 is basically equivalent to M 1A2, surpassing Russian T-90. In terms of fire control system, thanks to the progress of domestic electronic industry, Type 99 has reached the level of M 1A2, far exceeding T-90. However, after upgrading from M 1A2 to M 1A2SEP, it is still better than Type 99 in informatization. Of course, the on-board information sharing system involves the networking of the whole army and even the three armed forces, so it is not appropriate to compare bicycles.
In terms of protection, the protection force of Type 99 is not as good as that of M 1A2 equipped with depleted uranium armor. Because the casting turret is used and the composite armor and additional armor with large thickness and large inclination are installed, the frontal protection of Type 99 turret should be better than that of T-90. In terms of maneuverability, the power-to-weight ratio of Type 99 has surpassed M 1A2, far exceeding T-90. However, due to the actual maneuverability, the performance of transmission system and suspension system should be considered. These two systems have always been the weakness of domestic tanks, so don't overestimate the mobility of Type 99.
Generally speaking, there is no doubt that the Type 99 main battle tank has become one of the best main battle tanks in the world.
Type 99 main battle tank is the most advanced main battle tank of Chinese Army and one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world. As the third generation tank in China, its powerful firepower and comprehensive performance have won praise for it. However, the inherent mobility weakness of domestic tanks is still affecting it.