Thursday, November 20, 2008

Type 99

IOC: April 2006

Production: 200
Unitary Cost: USD$2.0 million

Also Known As
WZ123 (Chinese industrial code)
ZTZ99 (PLA designation)

Origin
China

Contractor/s
NORINCO

Guided Missiles:
Refleks

Description: The Type 99, also known as ZTZ99 or WZ123, is a Chinese-made third generation main battle tank (MBT) intended to provide the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with a capability similar to Western Leopard 2 and M1A1 tanks. The Type 99 tank highlights by its improved firepower, protection and mobility compared to previous Chinese developments. The hull design is based on Type 98 and Type 98G prototypes tested by the PLA in the 1990s. According to the Pentagon's China Military Power 2007, the PLA fielded the Type 99 MBT beginning in April 2006 to units in the Beijing and Shenyang military regions. So far, NORINCO has produced several hundreds for the PLA which prefers the less expensive Type 96 as the backbone for its armored forces.

The Type 99 is equipped with a Russian-style 125mm smoothbore cannon with autoloader which translates into a crew of three-man. The 125mm cannon is capable of firing the Russian-made Refleks laser-guided anti-tank missile. The Refleks missile is being manufactured under license in China. In addition to the 125mm cannon, the Type 99 is equipped with a 12.7mm antiaircraft machine gun and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.

Improved protection has been achieved thanks to a modular armor design and a laser self-defense weapon. The heavily armored turret is fitted with explosive reactive armor (ERA) and add-on armor modules. The laser self-defense weapon is intended to blind enemy gunners and/or jamming laser-based guidance and rangefinder systems. The Type 99 is powered by a 1,500-hp turbo-charged diesel engine based on German technology. Weighing 54 tons fully loaded the Type 99 has top speed of 80 kph on-road or 60 kph cross country.

Specifications
Accommodation: Crew 3

Guns: Main Gun Caliber 125 mm50-caliber

Number of Weapons: 41

Weights: Max Weight 54 t

Performance: Cross Country Speed 60 kph (37 mph), Top Speed 80 kph (50 mph)

Power: Power 1,500 hp

Other: Max Rate of Fire 8 rounds per minute

Operators

China

Internet Resources
sinodefence.com

Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) kN (KiloNewton) Ton (t)
Meters per Second (mps) Kilometers per Hour (kph) Knot (kt) Miles per Hour (mph)
Liter (l) Galon (gl)
Year (yr) Minutes (min) Second (sec)
Shaft-Horse-Power (shp)

Last Updated: Saturday, October 25, 2008

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