New Type98/99 MBT thread

[AssassinsMace]

deleted.

[Insignius]

Yeah, this is the VT-1A or the "MBT-2000 Gai" as called by the chinese bloggosphere.

What I find especially interersting is the quote that it has a 1300hp diesel engine with electronic control (diagnostics?), and it being fully digitized with GPS, Thermal Imagers for all crew stations and whatnot. Also the turret design and protection vectors look considerably better than earlier Chinese tanks of the MBTXX series. Still not too great all in all, but a vast improvement IMHO.

But what takes the cake IMHO is the 'explosion suppression' system. Remember that video with the APC getting blown madly after a penetrating hit in Syria? This is caused by the ammo and fuel, which is, in Chinese and Russian tanks, stored loosely everywhere in every nook and hole in the crewspace, which leads to fatal explosion in case of a penetration.
This dire problem is solvable though, as there are other western tanks who also had this kind of hazardous spare ammo storage in hull and turret, but made do with special explosion suppression techniques, while not relying on the Leopard 2 or M1-styled ammo storage design with blow-off panels. The Russians, until the T-90MS, simply never bothered to find a solution for this problem, so I dare to suggest that maybe the MBT3000 will feature such a system somehow, that may solve this problem in a similiar fashion as western tanks with loose spare ammo in hull and turret.

This would increase the survivability of the MBT3000 dramatically, making it even more survivable than the ZTZ99 series (excluded the ZTZ99B/A2) IMHO.

All in all, it also says that Norinco hopes it to introduce it for the PLA too. Let's see whether this will happen, or not. As a possible ZTZ96 replacement, I can imagine it.

[MwRYum]

Nevertheless, the Russian-type gun system with its separate munition-charge design makes cookoff easier than that the Western type munitions, and blown-off panel.

Still, ex-Soviet made tanks that still serves in the Middle East (like in Saddam's Iraq and today's Syria) are the so-called "monkey model", their fire suppression system are dismal by all regards.

That said, if the Chinese find improvement in this sector (their ZTZ96/99 series are still based on Soviet design doctrine), my money is on the fire suppression system.

[AssassinsMace]

Supposedly something new. The rear looks different.

[no_name]

Supposedly something new. The rear looks different.

Al-Khalid tank?

[muddie]

Supposedly something new. The rear looks different.

Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but can a truck like that with its long unsupported edge actually carry a 50 ton MBT?
It kind of looks like a movie prop or model.

[duskylim]

Why make a movie prop so heavy that it requires a heavy vehicle's transporter in the 1st place - 99% of all props are made of wood, no need for the transporter - expensive to hire just for a wooden prop - I don't know any movie that would make a prop from metal - very, very expensive - even if made from the cheapest material - mild steel.

Look at the 2nd picture, there is a chain block attached to a towing lug at the back of the tank, and its been tensioned - just like you would to secure a piece of heavy equipment.

Now lets see, if the tank is around 50 tons, its supported by 4 pairs of wheels in the back and another 4 pairs in front, which makes for 8+8 wheels or 16 wheels all-in-all.

So the load per wheel is around 3.125 tons per wheel - not an unreasonable load for a heavy truck.

This type of heavy transporter is exactly the type of vehicle needed to move around armor.

I think this is a new model of the MBT-2000 or the Type 96 family.

[plawolf]

Why make a movie prop so heavy that it requires a heavy vehicle's transporter in the 1st place - 99% of all props are made of wood, no need for the transporter - expensive to hire just for a wooden prop - I don't know any movie that would make a prop from metal - very, very expensive - even if made from the cheapest material - mild steel.

Look at the 2nd picture, there is a chain block attached to a towing lug at the back of the tank, and its been tensioned - just like you would to secure a piece of heavy equipment.

Now lets see, if the tank is around 50 tons, its supported by 4 pairs of wheels in the back and another 4 pairs in front, which makes for 8+8 wheels or 16 wheels all-in-all.

So the load per wheel is around 3.125 tons per wheel - not an unreasonable load for a heavy truck.

This type of heavy transporter is exactly the type of vehicle needed to move around armor.

I think this is a new model of the MBT-2000 or the Type 96 family.

There is that Chinese company responsible for prop Type 96, 99 and Leo IIs on similar flatbeds in China that caused a stir a while back. Their props are way more than just scenery. The tanks were perfectly capable of moving under their own power.

As for movies, well surely you are aware of the amounts of money even average Hollywood flicks cost these days! And believe me, they do use real metals when they feel like they need to. Just try and find some vids of the bonus material from Real Steal where they talked about building real life examples of the robots in that movie. And they did it even for robots that had like a 2 second shot in the entire film!

Never underestimate just how much detail or how much money directors want.

To me, this looks like another one of the companies models (I cannot seem to find the link to the company someone posted a while back, so if anyone could help me out here I would much appreciated it).

If it was real military, I would have expected a real military tank transporter instead of a civilian heavy vehicles transporter as shown here.

Also, as far as I am aware, all modern tank transporters designed or rated to carry modern day monster MBTs have supporting wheels directly under the part of the truck where the tank is to sit.

When you have 50-60+ tons of MBT sitting on something for a long time, you really want it to have as much support as you can manage.

[AssassinsMace]

What's up with all the different tanks showing up?

[duskylim]

Not to be too snide, but these are definitely NOT more movie props.

I believe the PLA is engaged in acquiring new models of tanks and these are the low rate initial production or working prototypes.

The tanks in the latest pictures are not the same model as in the last 2 we saw before on the trucks - making me believe these are the replacements for the Type 99 (or its latest incarnation), while the earlier tank on the truck (probably much lighter) are the replacements for the Type 96.

This is very interesting.

[duskylim]

Not to be too snide, but these are definitely NOT more movie props.

I believe the PLA is engaged in acquiring new models of tanks and these are the low rate initial production or working prototypes.

The tanks in the latest pictures are not the same model as in the last 2 we saw before on the trucks - making me believe these are the replacements for the Type 99 (or its latest incarnation), while the earlier tank on the truck (probably much lighter) are the replacements for the Type 96.

This is very interesting.

[drunkmunky]

Interesting how they chose to reduce the suspension travel..... Don't think this new one is for export.

[Insignius]

BBS claim that these are the long awaited light tanks replacing the obsolete Type 62/ZTQ62 used in the southern units.

It is armed with a 105mm gun and is comparable to the cancelled US M8 Buford light tank/armoured gun system.

[kwaigonegin]

Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but can a truck like that with its long unsupported edge actually carry a 50 ton MBT?
It kind of looks like a movie prop or model.

I don;t think this is a prop.. I also don't think this is a 50 tons + MBT. Much lighter and with less armor etc... This could be a variant of a medium size tank perhaps?

[muddie]

I don't think China will invest in light tanks, Type 96s are probably the lightest China will go. There is simply no role for light tanks. The role of light tanks are taken up by APCs, FSV, CFVs, etc.