PLA News, Pics, and Discussion

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
It is cool that thing survived. But no, I doubt it had much influence in the end. Because of US weapons export ban to China after Tienanmen incident the whole thing got cancelled. It was supposed to be a Type 59 upgrade program.
 

gongolongo

Junior Member
Registered Member
It is cool that thing survived. But no, I doubt it had much influence in the end. Because of US weapons export ban to China after Tienanmen incident the whole thing got cancelled. It was supposed to be a Type 59 upgrade program.
I mean there was some knowhow that the US must have brought into China. They did transfer some technology. I don't know if it was a big impact or not but it still must have helped.
 

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
AFAIK none were delivered to China unlike what happened with Type 052 destroyer.
The Type 69 and 59 tanks had a lot of Western know how used into later versions. Including a British design FCS and 105mm gun.
But AFAIK that happened before the weapons ban.
 
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MwRYum

Major
Had it bear fruit 100%, China would've switch to 105mm NATO standard smoothbore main gun and perhaps work it up towards 120mm NATO standard, instead of standardize on 125mm Russian main gun system.

But, it does got China a start in breaking the Russian mold (the T-55/Type 59), and henceforth incorporate more Western-bloc pioneered features in the newer platforms that are the ZTZ-96 and ZTZ-99 series.
 

Maikeru

Captain
Registered Member
Had it bear fruit 100%, China would've switch to 105mm NATO standard smoothbore main gun and perhaps work it up towards 120mm NATO standard, instead of standardize on 125mm Russian main gun system.

But, it does got China a start in breaking the Russian mold (the T-55/Type 59), and henceforth incorporate more Western-bloc pioneered features in the newer platforms that are the ZTZ-96 and ZTZ-99 series.
Royal Ordnance L7 is 105mm is rifled I think. Was used in early M1 Abrams and many other tanks. Abrams later replaced it with Rhienmetal 120mm smoothbore which became de facto NATO standard although UK stuck with rifled 120mm until now (but Challenger 3 will have smoothbore).
 

The Observer

Junior Member
Registered Member
Had it bear fruit 100%, China would've switch to 105mm NATO standard smoothbore main gun and perhaps work it up towards 120mm NATO standard, instead of standardize on 125mm Russian main gun system.

But, it does got China a start in breaking the Russian mold (the T-55/Type 59), and henceforth incorporate more Western-bloc pioneered features in the newer platforms that are the ZTZ-96 and ZTZ-99 series.
how reliable are the articles in Chinese microblogs like Sina? Because I read somewhere that the reason 125mm is chosen was that it had a larger chamber volume (hence growth potential). The article also said Chinese propellant back then wasn't as energetic as those used in 120mm, so the larger chamber volume also helps with the muzzle velocity (just put more propellant in the chamber).
 

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
There were reports that China got access to a T-72 from some Middle Eastern country. Then that got reverse engineered. That is how they got their hands on the 125mm gun. After the Soviet Union collapsed China acquired a limited number of T-80U tanks. It would probably have been much harder to get access to the 120mm gun.

In comparison in artillery the Chinese use 155mm just like NATO because they had contracts with Gerald Bull, the same Canadian scientist who worked on improving the artillery of South Africa and Iraq after being asked by the CIA to do it. That is why China had such a huge advantage over the US in artillery capabilities which only recently the US tried to reduce.

Gerald Bull got sent to South Africa to improve the range of their artillery so they could counter Soviet artillery in use by Angola in their wars against South Africa and their civil war between Soviet sponsored MPLA and US backed UNITA forces. UNITA had a range advantage with their artillery until the end of the civil war because of that and even had the capital of the country controlled by the MPLA government under their artillery range without the government forces being able to counter it. MPLA eventually had to sign a cease fire and later purchased Soviet aircraft to counter UNITA's South African artillery.
 

KushigumoAkane

New Member
Registered Member
There were reports that China got access to a T-72 from some Middle Eastern country. Then that got reverse engineered. That is how they got their hands on the 125mm gun. After the Soviet Union collapsed China acquired a limited number of T-80U tanks. It would probably have been much harder to get access to the 120mm gun.

In comparison in artillery the Chinese use 155mm just like NATO because they had contracts with Gerald Bull, the same Canadian scientist who worked on improving the artillery of South Africa and Iraq after being asked by the CIA to do it. That is why China had such a huge advantage over the US in artillery capabilities which only recently the US tried to reduce.

Gerald Bull got sent to South Africa to improve the range of their artillery so they could counter Soviet artillery in use by Angola in their wars against South Africa and their civil war between Soviet sponsored MPLA and US backed UNITA forces. UNITA had a range advantage with their artillery until the end of the civil war because of that and even had the capital of the country controlled by the MPLA government under their artillery range without the government forces being able to counter it. MPLA eventually had to sign a cease fire and later purchased Soviet aircraft to counter UNITA's South African artillery.
uh-uh. It wasn't "some Middle Eastern country" that provided T-72. It was Romania. The variant was T-72 URAL, also known as "Imported type 64 tank" due to confidentialiy.
And China NEVER acquired T-80U.
 

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
Hmmm... Ok. But there are loads of sites claiming China bought T-80U tanks. Even South Korea has some.
 
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