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Chinese Tanks

Starting from the Type 59 main battle tank and Type 63 tracked armored vehicle, the armored units of the People's Liberation Army have embarked on a road of "imitation", "improvement", "introduction" and "independent" research and development. In the end, after absorbing the different military thoughts and equipment technology characteristics of the East and the West, a unique development road of armor technology and equipment was embarked on. The omnidirectional development in the automotive industry, heavy industry, optics, materials and other comprehensive fields has made our army equipped with track-type, wheel-type and new energy-powered armored technology weapons.

During the period of the Beiyang warlord's separatist regime, the Beiyang warlords were equipped with tanks, but the tanks were very simple, only equipped with light machine guns, better equipped with heavy machine guns, and the number was very small. When the early tanks of the world showed their brilliance on the European battlefields of World War I, Chinese soldiers also began to notice this new weapon. However, the main battle tanks of that era were too cumbersome and not easy to drive in China. The National Government also purchased a lot of tanks, most of which were equipped with German one-type tanks. Later, in 1937, 85 T26 medium tanks were imported from the Soviet Union. By the time of the War of Liberation, it was equipped with an American-made Sherman medium tank and a Chaffee light tank.

In the World War of Liberation, the People's Liberation Army captured a large number of Kuomintang tanks and subsequently used them in the battle to resist US aggression and aid Korea. In fact, strictly speaking, China’s first self-produced T34 medium tank was an imitation of the Soviet T34 medium tank, which is called Type 58 in China.

In November 1945, Sun San, Gao Ke and other commanders worked hard to collect the first tank of the People's Army from the tank repair shop of the Kwantung Army in Japan, the No. 102 Type 97 tank. When the People's Liberation Army Tank Brigade was established in Majiawanzi, Shenyang, there were only more than 30 people and this tank. In the War of Liberation, the People's Liberation Army seized various tanks left over from Japan or provided by the United States from the enemy, continuously expanded the size of the armored force, and learned the tactics of the armored force from the battle.

After the founding of the People’s Republic. China conducted extensive military cooperation with the Soviet Union, introducing Soviet tanks such as T-34 medium tanks, IS-2 heavy tanks, SU-100 tank destroyers, and ISU-152 assault guns. They constituted the core force of China's armored forces in the first 10 years of the founding of the People's Republic of China. They showed their magical powers in the Korean War, gave the new China a reputation, and allowed the world to see the bravery of Chinese soldiers.

The Chinese armored vehicle industry began with the launch in 1958 of production at the Factory No. 617 in Baotou, which was built and fully equipped by the USSR. The first and for many years the only product was the T-54 tanks, bearing the local designation of Type 59. The decision of the Soviet authorities to transfer the documentation and technology of only one type of tank was consistent with the doctrine of the Soviet Army at that time, which gave up the development of both heavy and heavy tanks. and light tanks, focusing on medium tanks. There was another reason as well: the young army of the People's Republic of China needed huge amounts of modern weapons and it took decades of intensive supplies to meet its needs. The excessive variety of equipment produced would have to complicate its production and reduce efficiency.

During the Great Leap Forward, the tank also made the Great Leap Forward. At that time, many unrealistic requirements were put forward, such as the "three-liquid", that is, hydraulic transmission, hydraulic assisted steering and hydraulic suspension system. However, there was no such technology at all, so they dismounted one after another, and continued to transform Type 59 medium tanks, and then 59-2, *** and other tanks were born. However, Chinese tanks are still very backward.

Chinese decision-makers, however, had greater aspirations and were not satisfied with the small supplies of other armored equipment: IS-2M heavy tanks, SU-76, SU-100 and ISU-152 self-propelled guns, and armored personnel carriers. When relations with the USSR suddenly cooled down in the early 1960s, it was decided to start producing weapons of Chinese design. It was an idea impossible to implement in a short time, not only because of insufficient industrial potential, but, above all, the weaknesses and inexperience of design offices. Regardless of this, ambitious plans were made, tasks were allocated and extremely short deadlines for their implementation were set. In the field of armored weapons, the design of the heavy tank - Project 11, medium - Project 12, light - Project 13 and super-light - Project 14.

Project 11 was to be the equivalent of the Soviet T-10 and, like it, to a large extent use solutions proven in the IS cars. Several vehicles marked "111" were built - these were elongated hulls of the IS-2 with seven pairs of running wheels, for which not even towers were built, but only their weight equivalents were installed. The vehicles differed in the details of the suspension design, it was planned to test several types of engines. As the latter could not be designed and built, engines from the IS-2 were installed "temporarily". The results of the first field trials were very disappointing, and the enormous amount of work that still had to be carried out discouraged decision-makers - the program was canceled.

Similarly short was the career of the super light "141". It was undoubtedly created under the influence of similar foreign designs, especially the Japanese Komatsu Type-60 tank destroyer and the American Ontos. The idea of ??using such recoilless guns as the main armament did not work in any of these countries, and in China, work was completed on the construction of technology demonstrators with dummy cannons. A few years later, one of the vehicles was modernized, with the addition of two HJ-73 anti-tank guided missile launchers (a copy of the 9M14 Malyutka).

In 1959, the Type 59 medium tank was finalized and 33 vehicles were produced in small batches at the 617 factory. However, the armored steel problem was not resolved. This batch of tanks was later handed over to the Armored Forces School. There were only 10 independent 6th regiments equipped with tanks, and another 2 equipped with the 1st Mechanized Division Teaching Battalion. The practical finalization of the Type 59 tank was not realized until the end of 1963, and the army began to be equipped in 1964.

The Type 62 light tank was developed in 1958 and finalized in 1962. It is the first generation of light tanks designed and developed by China. It has good maneuverability, certain firepower and protection capabilities. The Type 62 light tank has a combat weight of 21 tons, and its 35mm front armor can withstand most of the machine guns and shell fragments at that time.

At the end of 1963, the Type 59 medium tank solved the armor steel problem and began mass production. From 1964 to 1966, the PLA Tank Division began to receive Type 59 medium tanks and used them to replace T-34/85 tanks. In the 30 years since then, the Type 59 tank has become the main tank of the People's Liberation Army, and its status is far higher than any other model in the history of the People's Liberation Army armored force. The initial model of the Type 59 tank was a copy of the Soviet T-54A tank, but the Chinese military personnel continued to improve according to their own needs, and gradually developed the Type 59 family with distinctive national characteristics.

In 1974, a new generation of Type 69 medium tank based on the Soviet-made T-62 tank seized in the Zhenbao Island incident was finalized and put into production. In 1976, the first batch of production type 69 tanks (100 units) were tested in small quantities in the troops ( tank 2nd and 3rd divisions ). However, the result was very poor evaluation and was returned. Later, a batch of 69 tanks were reinstalled. The -1 tank (100 lines) was equipped with the 7th Division of Tanks in 1981. The evaluation was still very poor and was returned. In 1982, after research, it was concluded that the Type 69 tank was outdated at this time and should be stopped production, waiting for the "development of a new tank." After that, the Type 69 no longer had domestic ideas and exported it with confidence. It was not until the mid-1980s that it was further upgraded to 69-3 (Type 79) before producing equipment units.

According to the two principles of "North 59 and South 62", as well as using rotten tanks to consume the enemy and using good tanks to counter the enemy, the military tank regiments in the north generally compose T-34 and 59 medium tanks (mostly T-34, because 59 needed to protect the reserve tank unit in the use of tank divisions), the military tank regiments in the south generally have Type 62 light tanks. In addition, there are still separate tank regiments in individual military regions, some of which are amphibious tank regiments in the south. In the late 1990s, most tank units in the north were equipped with Type 59 tanks.

By 1975, Chinese-made tanks and armored vehicles equipped by the armored forces accounted for 71%, Soviet imports accounted for 29%, and domestically produced vehicles accounted for the majority. During the ten years of turmoil, many pieces of equipment in the army were damaged and scrapped due to maintenance and use problems. After the Cultural Revolution, these vehicle bodies were refurbished.

In 1980-81, the tank division and the army tank regiment were basically full, so they could start to replace the T-34 tank. The PLA’s choice was to use these eliminated T-34 tanks to form eight garrison division tank regiments. The purpose is to use these rotten tanks against the Soviets. The tank regiment of the garrison division was reduced to an independent tank battalion during the disarmament in 1985, and was dismantled with most of the garrison in 1992. During this period, no new tanks were replaced. In other words, the T-34 tanks of the People's Liberation Army have served in the army garrison at least until 1992. T-34 tanks were used in the Marine Corps and the border and coastal defense forces until 1998 or even 2000. This made China the third-to-last among the major army countries to eliminate the T-34 (there are also two active players in North Korea and North Korea).

After the reform and opening up, with the increasing exchanges between the People's Liberation Army and the West, the research and development of China's second-generation main battle tank has also been put on the agenda. The Type 80 tank is the first second-generation tank developed by our country. Its turret and hull are faintly shaped like Type 59 tanks. However, the equipped artillery, transmission, and suspension are completely new and completely different equipment. On the basis of the Type 80 tank, the Chinese military personnel used a large number of new Western equipment, and finally created the first second-generation main battle tank in the country, the Type 88.

Based on the Type 88 tank, China created a new generation of main battle tanks-Type 96. Type 96 is China's first main battle tank with welded turret and composite armor technology to be equipped with troops in batches. It is a second-generation semi-main battle tank with partial three-generation characteristics, and constitutes the main force of China's armored forces.

Since the 1980s, most of the main battle tanks equipped by countries around the world entered the third generation of main battle tanks after the war. The firepower, maneuverability and protection performance of the Leopard 2, M1A2 and other western main battle tanks have reached their peak. When fighting back in self-defense against Vietnam, China's army was still equipped with a large number of first-generation Type 59 tanks, which exposed a large number of problems during the war. The development of Chinese tanks urgently needed to catch up with countries in the world.

At the military parade on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1999, people not only saw the Type 96 tank that was recently installed, but also saw a new type of sci-fi tank. This tank was an early version of the Type 99. The Type 99 tank is a third-generation main battle tank developed by China. It uses a variety of world-leading technologies. The most praised is the laser blinding system that is nicknamed the "blind dog's eye" device. The second-stage improved performance indicators of the Type 99 tank are already world-class, but Chinese military personnel are still constantly improving it. The 99-type latest improved model 99A tank is one of the strongest tanks in the world. Some analysts point out that the lethality of the main gun is the world's highest, and the armor protection capability is also superb.

In 2010, with the second take-off of China's automobile industry, the PLA's armored technology weaponry changed from the previous "heavy track and light wheeled" development strategy to "equal emphasis on track and wheeled equipment."