China's Latest MBT Sports 1,500hp Gas Turbine, APS

bhramos

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Bulk production of the 62-tonne ZTZ-99A2 main battle tanks tank (MBT) commenced early last year in China for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), following three years of user trials.


Developed by the China North Vehicle Research Institute (also known as 201 Institute) of the state-owned China North Industries Corp (NORINCO) since 2005, the ZTZ-99A2 is being built by the Inner-Mongolia First Machinery Group Corp (also known as (617 Factory) in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The ZTZ-99A2 sports explosive reactive armour (ERA) tiles on the glacis, turret front and turret sides, plus a turret-mounted active protection system (APS). The baseline chassis armour is constructed of steel, to which advanced passive armour has been added over the frontal arc. By adding ERA tiles and APS, the ZTZ-99A2 MBT has been given a very high level of protection against anti-tank weapons fitted with tandem high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads.



The ZTZ-99A2 will supplement the PLA Army's existing 800-odd 57-tonne ZTZ-99A1 MBTs, which sport spaced arrow-shaped composite armour tiles on the turret's front side, plus a turret-mounted laser countermeasures suite. The ZTZ-99A2's turret, on the other hand, comes fitted with exteriorly changed arrow-shaped ERA armour panels, while its frontal hull is covered by flat ERA armour tiles. Despite of the size of ERA armour-plating, the ZTZ-99A2 seems to have a larger turret with an expanded tail chamber. The turret-mounted APS uses a millimetre-wave radar as its principal sensor.

The commander's panoramic sight bears a close resemblance to that on French AMX-56 Leclerc MBT. The ZTZ-99A2's integrated propulsion system includes a 1,500hp transverse-mounted gas turbine, automatic transmission, cooling system and the fuel tank. Suspensions are of the torsion bar-type, while both the commander's and gunner's sights make use of COTS-based uncooled thermal imagers.

The main armament is a 55-calibre 125mm smoothbore cannon (firing APFSDS rounds capable of penetrating 950mm of rolled homogenous armour), which is linked to a hull-mounted an auto-loader. The MBT has a three man crew complement. External dimensions of the MBT include a length of 11 metres (34 feet), width of 3.4 metres (10.5 feet) and a height of 2.2 metres (6.8 feet).

TRISHUL: China’s Latest MBT Sports 1,500hp Gas Turbine, APS
 

bhramos

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wdo we have anything to counter it in ours arsenal
We have Arjun MBT, but we dont have place or scenerio in Himalayas to pitch them face to face,

may be if PA gets it, the only place is Rajasthan, but their capabilities of these chini tanks in desert are unknown....
 

JAYRAM

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This is a lethal one... The ERA tiles are designed the best way to protect this MBT from any 'scratches'....

Nice job, NORINCO..

BTW what is DRDO doing there?...
 

cir

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62-ton?lol,lol,l lollollol!!
 

Damian

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Who the hell made that analize? Complete idiot?

This ZTZ-99A2 do not weight ~62,000kg's (it have shorter hull than previous ZTZ-99's and similiar armor configuration). It have not hard kill APS definetly, IMHO there is no APS at all.

It is not powered by Gas Turbine engine, I rather suspect some compact Diesel, maybe connected somehow with Ukrainian 5TD and 6TD Diesel series.

Not to mention that I see some weak point in turret frontal armor design... the closer You hit front armor to turret roof, the higher probability of perforation. Again lack of any heavy ballistic skirts or ERA to protect hull sides, even within safe manouvering angles (for hull this is +/- 20 degrees).

(firing APFSDS rounds capable of penetrating 950mm of rolled homogenous armour),
Yes author is complete idiot!

ZTZ-99A2 have the same carousel type autoloader as T-72/T-90 series, Russians even after making modifications to autoloader cassettes were unable to put there rounds longer than ~740mm, US M829A3 the longest APFSDS currently in service (~800mm penetrator) is not capable to even reach ~950mm penetration level... Who the hell made these idiotic claims? Some fantasy boy?
 
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Nirvana

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we Need Light Tanks and ICV's which can be Suitable in Himalayan territory to take on Chinese !!
 

ice berg

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Who the hell made that analize? Complete idiot?

This ZTZ-99A2 do not weight ~62,000kg's (it have shorter hull than previous ZTZ-99's and similiar armor configuration). It have not hard kill APS definetly, IMHO there is no APS at all.

It is not powered by Gas Turbine engine, I rather suspect some compact Diesel, maybe connected somehow with Ukrainian 5TD and 6TD Diesel series.

Not to mention that I see some weak point in turret frontal armor design... the closer You hit front armor to turret roof, the higher probability of perforation. Again lack of any heavy ballistic skirts or ERA to protect hull sides, even within safe manouvering angles (for hull this is +/- 20 degrees).
How you know one way of another how many tons the tank weight just by looking at the picture? And how will you know what type of engine it got? You dont think a new engine may add more weight to the tank?
 

Damian

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How you know one way of another how many tons the tank weight just by looking at the picture?
Common sense, shorter hull means less weight, it is more compact, and tank have same armor configuration (composite armor only over front hull and turret, rest is pure RHA no thicker than ~70-80mm). IMHO weight is similiar to that of earlier ZTZ-99's.

And how will you know what type of engine it got?
Oh, maybe because I see typical for Chinese tanks Diesel exhaust pipes over hull sides, the rear grills are not even black from exhaust gases, means that these grills are not gas turbine exhaust but vents for air cooling etc.

I don't know... do teachers in Your schools teach how to think, observe, analize?

You dont think a new engine may add more weight to the tank?
Common sense, hull is short, there are not many compact Diesel engines on market, I doubt that Germans sell licence to China for their MB883 and MB890 series, but close relationship with Ukraine is different thing, some 6TD engines have ebnough power to be perfect for vehicle heavier than 50 tons, and in the same time are compact and light enough to not add but even decrease some weight.

Unless of course Chinese designers are complete morons and they decide to increase weight not decrease it. ;)
 

ice berg

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Oh, maybe because I see typical for Chinese tanks Diesel exhaust pipes over hull sides, the rear grills are not even black from exhaust gases, means that these grills are not gas turbine exhaust but vents for air cooling etc.


How will you see exhaust gases from tanks just out of factory?


I don't know... do teachers in Your schools teach how to think, observe, analize?


Yah, as well as manners. Something your parents failed to do.


Common sense, hull is short, there are not many compact Diesel engines on market, I doubt that Germans sell licence to China for their MB883 and MB890 series, but close relationship with Ukraine is different thing, some 6TD engines have ebnough power to be perfect for vehicle heavier than 50 tons, and in the same time are compact and light enough to not add but even decrease some weight.

Unless of course Chinese designers are complete morons and they decide to increase weight not decrease it. ;)
So you are saying there is no new engine? Or they are just old engines wraped up in a new package?
 

Blackwater

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Kiski copy ha??? this more important than gas turbine engine...
 

Damian

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How will you see exhaust gases from tanks just out of factory?
Hello:



Tank need to be tested, so it needs to drive, to be placed on railroad transport platform it need to drive on it, so the engine will work, and ehaust gases will left black marks near exhaust pipes... it is pure logic!

Yah, as well as manners. Something your parents failed to do.
It is not important, facts are important.

So you are saying there is no new engine? Or they are just old engines wraped up in a new package?
Where did I say they left old engines? Reread my post, this time try to understand what I said.
 
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Tshering22

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We have Arjun MBT, but we dont have place or scenerio in Himalayas to pitch them face to face,

may be if PA gets it, the only place is Rajasthan, but their capabilities of these chini tanks in desert are unknown....
The PA will hardly get anything that is as capable as what PLA operates for itself. AK and AZ are tanks that are meant to satisfy Pakistan's ego and to get them into the bandwagon more than to use them against us.

A tank war between IA and PLA is impossible. But I do expect to see how it functions in a desert. Because Gobi desert's parameters won't exactly suit that of Thar.
 

Kunal Biswas

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p2prada

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Damian the author is a sensationalist. He is well known to give wrong information for who knows what reasons? Nobody takes him seriously.
 

Damian

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Damian the author is a sensationalist. He is well known to give wrong information for who knows what reasons? Nobody takes him seriously.
Explanation is simple, he is weak educated idiot without any basic knowledge about modern armored fighting vehicles. ;)

Plenty of them in the internet... I wonder where he find information about gas turbine engine, what would be logic behind puting gas turbine engine these days? When there are compact Diesel engines with enough power. Not to mention that exhaust pipes placement clearly suggest Diesel engine, and placement of these pipes are normal for Chinese tanks.

And 950mm penetration level of APFSDS ammunition... much more advanced M829A3 or DM53 are unable to reach such penetration levels, and wonderfully Chinese with tanks equipped with autoloaders that are due to their design, unable to store so long rods, were able to reach such penetration levels?

Not to mention about other issues like materials quality, rod design, from what it was made etc. etc. etc.
 

Armand2REP

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The only development in Chinese tank engine tech I am waiting for is the day they can break away from Ukraine exports.
 

Damian

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AFAIK earlier variants of ZTZ-99 were using copy or modified German MTU MB873 Ka501, used also in Leopard 2... is this counts?
 

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