Type 10 MBT-X - Armament
The main gun was equipped with a domestically produced 44-caliber 120mm smoothbore gun developed by Japan Steel Works . The Type 90 tank was produced under license from Rheinmetall in Germany, but the Type 10 tank is completely domestically produced. Considering future development, it is said that it is designed so that the barrel can be replaced with a 55 caliber gun with higher attack power.
It uses an automatic loading device following the Type 90, but it is equipped with a more advanced design so it can be loaded even when the gun has a slight elevation angle. On the right side of the turret mantlet, the transmission and reception unit of the muzzle collation device is attached, and the distortion of the barrel is measured by irradiating a laser to the muzzle collation mirror at the tip of the gun barrel.
Although the barrel is made in Japan, it is a NATO standard, and the same APFSDS bullets and multi-purpose HEAT bullets as the Type 90 tank can be used, and it is the latest APFSDS bullet from Rheinmetall.
Currently, the Type 90 tank uses an APFSDS ammunition called JM33, which was produced under license from German DM33, as an anti-tank ammunition, but this ammunition has already become obsolete, and with modern technology, it is at a level that can be achieved even with a 105mm gun. Only power. For example, the armor penetration of the DM33 is about 460mm at a distance of 2km, but the latest APFSDS for 105mm guns developed in Belgium, the M1060A3, has an armor penetration of 450-500mm at a distance of 2km.
Therefore, the Type 10 120mm wing-stabilized armor-piercing bullet (APFSDS) was newly developed as a special bullet for the Type 10 tank. It was previously developed under the name of Armor-Piercing Bullet Type III, and along with the new 120mm smoothbore cannon, it seems that the muzzle velocity has increased due to the enhancement of the charge, similar to the DM53. In addition, the bullet center is more elongated than the conventional DM33, giving it an appearance similar to that of the DM53. When fired with a 44 caliber gun, the DM53 has an armor penetration of about 600mm at a distance of 2km, and it is estimated that the Type 10 APFSDS has the same armor penetration.
As a high-explosive bullet, the Type 10 continued to use the JM12 licensed production of Rheinmetall's DM12 from the Type 90, and would use the Type 00 120mm tank gun practice bullet as a practice bullet. In addition, blank cartridges for 120mm smoothbore guns, which had never existed before, were also developed, and since 2012, blank firing of Type 90 tanks and Type 10 tanks has been demonstrated at garrison commemorative events.
As secondary armament, a 12.7mm heavy machine gun M2 is mounted on the top of the turret, and a Type 74 vehicle-mounted 7.62mm machine gun is equipped on the mantlet coaxially with the main gun.
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