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 3rd generation main battle tank (MBT) fielded by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. It is made to compete with modern western 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 tank was first 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 then finally improve the performance and named it as Type 99, was revealed in 2001. It has an improved engine and additional Leopard 2A5-style sloped armour on the turret front and sides.
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 the Type 59. Due to its limited numbers, the Type 99 is currently only operated by PLA’s elite divisions.
Design
The development of the new tank was initiated in the early 90s during the Gulf War. Western tanks had destroyed numerous Iraqi Soviet-made T-72s, which were comparable to the most advanced tank in the PLA arsenal 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 a 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 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 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 Leopard engineers 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.
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 damage or destroy the enemy’s optics (eyes). It can also be used as a secure communications device.
The ZTZ99’s main armament includes a dual-axis fully-stabilised 125mm/50-calibre ZPT98 smoothbore gun with a carousel-style autoloader, a thermal sleeve, and a fume extractor. It is a further developement of the 120mm Chinese Design. The gun can be fired by either electronic 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. 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), 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 for enemy tank with Explosive Reactive Armour, with an effective range of 4.5km. In addition, the Chinese have developed depleted uranium (DU) rounds for their tanks and these may be available for the Type 99. The primary kinetic energy armour-piercing ammunition for the 125mm tank gun is the APFSDS round with a 30:1 length/calibre heavy tungsten alloy penetrator and the round has a muzzle velocity of 1,780m/s and is capable of penetrating 850mm steel armour at a distance of 2,000m. A depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round which can penetrate 960mm steel armour at a distance of 2,000m and the accuracy range would be approx 5km on non moving target with APFSDS depleted uranium.
Armour
Currently, the actual armour composition of the Type-99/ZTZ-99 remains unknown. There are public photos of experimental Chinese composite armours, specifically Al2O3 which has been tested. The armour didn’t sustain any significant damage after being shot by a T-72C 125mm armament 7 times or a 105mm armament 9 times in a range of 1,800 meters The tank’s front armour protection is equivalent to 1,000~1,200mm of steel armour.[4] Also, there are significant differences between the armour packages displayed on the current Type 99s and the ones first seen in 1999.
Another theory that has been suggested is that the armor additions are not ERA, but composite layers in block formThe 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.
Fire accuracy is attained by the laser rangefinder, wind sensor, ballistic computer, and thermal barrel sleeve. 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 magnification x11.4 narrow field of view and x5 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.
Tags: Chineese, Main Battle tank, Sabit Ahmed, Type99
