Thanks for the heads up Tony!
The above pics are from the Chinese Military News Blog. They state that the tank mounts a 105mm gun and weighs less than 50 tons. Couple this vehicle with the new Chinese heavy air lifter and you have the capability to put armor anywhere in the region with quickness.
.jpg)
Above you see the Type 63A Light Tank. Its a modified BMP-3 chassis sporting a new turret with a 105mm cannon.
Its fully amphibious and if used with new Chinese LHD and LPD ships coming online by the Chinese Marine Corps then you have tremendous shock power that can applied against any enemy forces in the region.
Everyone forgets that combined arms in mechanized formations is truly impressive. Anti-tank teams will be hunted and killed by Chinese Marines or Airborne Troops while these new light tanks rampage through destroying support vehicles and troops.
As much as I label China our greatest near term foe, I can't but be impressed by how they're approaching modernization.
All the pieces are now in place....they just need to replace outdated equipment with new.
They're very close to being ready to make territorial dreams a reality.
The above pics are from the Chinese Military News Blog. They state that the tank mounts a 105mm gun and weighs less than 50 tons. Couple this vehicle with the new Chinese heavy air lifter and you have the capability to put armor anywhere in the region with quickness.
Above you see the Type 63A Light Tank. Its a modified BMP-3 chassis sporting a new turret with a 105mm cannon.
Its fully amphibious and if used with new Chinese LHD and LPD ships coming online by the Chinese Marine Corps then you have tremendous shock power that can applied against any enemy forces in the region.
Everyone forgets that combined arms in mechanized formations is truly impressive. Anti-tank teams will be hunted and killed by Chinese Marines or Airborne Troops while these new light tanks rampage through destroying support vehicles and troops.
As much as I label China our greatest near term foe, I can't but be impressed by how they're approaching modernization.
All the pieces are now in place....they just need to replace outdated equipment with new.
They're very close to being ready to make territorial dreams a reality.
Solomon, there seems to be some confusion regarding the Designation of this tank as latest Chinese MBT is also called the Type 99. I also got some more data regarding this tank and its possible deployments here...http://strategicstudyindia.blogspot.in/2013/11/pla-starts-inducting-new-light-tank.html
ReplyDeleteand also here....http://defence.pk/threads/china-new-light-tank-mountain-tank-in-field-test.269924/
thanks Sarabvir.
Deleteas far as the designation goes, i really believe that we're actually seeing what many would call a medium tank (if we're using the old scoring system) and that the Chinese are going to migrate away from the Russian based models. understandable really. i see the evolutionary line ending as we speak and it makes sense for them to follow international practice of going lighter, higher tech, higher mobility and to use a combination of armor and missile killing tech to provide protection to the vehicle.
Looks like the chinese want to Raid the Himalays with this "Mean Machine". The Indian Army has been deploying T-72's there since the 1980's and now we are beginning deployments of the T-90's there. Lets see how they stack up.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I couldnt find out was its status. Is it in prototype stage or have they begun series production ?
ReplyDeletefrom what i can tell, numbers indicate that its in production. i'm looking for spiral development. first a run of T99A, then a T99B and finally a representative---this is just the way we want it T99C.
DeleteThe Himalayan/Mountain deployment does look very much possible judging by the terrain seen in the photographs. At any deployments at 9000 feet and above,Internal Combustion engines loose 25% or somewhat of their power. Coupled that with added weight of add-on armor, skirts, ERA, fuel tanks, ammo etc. i am very curious to see how my country and the chinese use their tanks against each other in that atmoshphere. The last time we deployed tanks in anger it was 1948 against Pakistan and we were using Stuart M3's. Even with that tank we had to remove the turret during road transportation and then re-fit them at make-shift field workshops in those altitudes. At first the Paki's couldnt believe what they saw with Indian intercepted radio chatter revealing their higher command assuring Paki troops that they were Modified/Done-Up Jeeps and Trucks.
ReplyDeleteThe Stuart M3's had carburated gasoline engines. Modern tanks have fuel injected diesel engines or turbine engines, so there is much less efficiency lost at altitude especially with the use of a turbocharger to increase air pressure in the pistons.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the Chinese used tanks against the Indians in 1962, I'd be willing to bet that history will repeat itself.
I can't think of any conceivable reason the Chinese may have for trying to make their territorial claims now. In 10-20 years time their modernization and buildup of forces will make them easily stronger than America and they would be free to do whatever they wished since America would never risk a direct confrontation.
ReplyDeletei disagree. economics to me indicate that the Chinese might not have a better time than now. the US is rapidly approaching energy independence. fracking is proving to be a great thing. additionally there are many cracks appearing in the chinese way of doing things.
Deletetheir economy is starting to struggle, many of the markets that they sought to corner the market in have failed (ship building for example) and growth at home has failed and over seas sales are slowing down.
in 10 to 20 years china might be back to a stone age economy. they need to make a move at the height of their power. additionally the weakness of one president won't necessarily carry over to the next.
obama might be a bitch but that doesn't mean that the next president won't have balls.
we'll see what we see.
From what I've read Chinese growth might slow, the current 8% a year growth is not sustainable and will come to an end in the near future. However it's not going to stop, demand for Chinese made products is never going to stop since no nation in the world could possibly replace the industrial capacity of China.
DeleteNo-one is predicting a huge crash, although a small one may occur. At the end of the day there's no reason why such a large economy with rich resources cannot sustain above inflation growth, while a crash may prove a temporary setback it won't permanently cripple the country and they will recover.
Lastly America can't compete in terms of manpower, even if a Chinese army was using ancient equipment they can throw endless waves of troops at any aggressor and in the end they'd win. But if modest growth continues then China will be able to continue to cut away at America's lead on military technology and build up forces able to counter the American military.
what do you mean about china having huge resources? they're scrambling all over the world looking for natural resources. additionally the chinese home market is a basket case. they're not the consuming monkey's that americans and europeans are. last but not least their foreign markets aren't or can't afford to buy chinese trinkets anymore. either the cost is too high or the desire for frivolous goods is no longer there.
Deleteand what does manpower have to do with this? its about the units that you can get to the scene. you can have a 10 million man army but it doesn't matter if you can only get a company to the fight. remember. no one is talking about invading china, we're talking about china taking territory.
last but not least you're focused only on the US. we have a weak and ineffective president at the moment but things change.
what you ignore is the fact that japan, s. korea, singapore, australia and others are gearing up to fight china.
china is screwed if they wait too long.
now is the time. if they wait they might have to wait another 1000 years before conditions are this perfect again.
It all depends on your analysis of the future of the Chinese economy, if it is to go back to "the stone age" then now would be the optimum time for it, although one would wonder how a weakened China could ever hope to hold the islands.
DeleteIf it's going to continue to grow albeit slower than it currently is then it would not make sense for them to take action now, a potential future Chinese navy and air force in 20 years time could easily outclass anything the Americans and their allies could muster.
Solomon, from what I understand you think that china's economic situation is a fundamental preposition for your argument that now is the time for China to make its move.
DeleteAs someone who has analysed china's economy in a professional capacity, I'd like to throw in my two cents that the fears and risks are overblown. While there are structural imbalances with bad debt, overcapacity, and environmental damage, there are no show stoppers as you describe. The most likely worst case scenario is a short and sharp depression that will hurt property investors and banks most - manufacturers and the average Wang aren't very exposed in the areas facing the worst overcapacity. The recent growth rates of 7-8% are actually a government managed slow down to rectify the imbalances I mentioned earlier - this is recognition that sustaining 10%+ growth rates are damaging and unsustainable. You can fault the Chinese on a million things, but their economic management has been among the best in the world. I'm happy to provide you with academic reading on the topic if you're interested in enriching your economic knowledge.
Cheers,
James
most manufacturers and the Wang aren't exposed?
Deleteare you serious?
just take a look at the issue with shipbuilding! a chinese shipyard is having trouble paying penalty charges because they're late in finishing a ship! and they're not alone in that trouble. you speak glowingly of the chinese economic system but all i see is trouble ahead. MANY financial analyst say the same. most people are trying to ignore this issue because they want the good times to roll.
i appreciate your comment but totally disagree with it.
And what percentage of china's economy does ship building contribute to? I am not being flippant, but I am trying to make a point. There may be struggling areas and if you want to dig, there are thousands of sectors where the picture is less than rosy. Heck, even automotive is struggling and China has the largest car market in the world. You will always find what you want to see if you want to see it - confirmation bias. You need to consider all factors equally.
DeleteFinancial analysts make predictions both ways depending on who you're asking, when you're asking, and who's paying for the advice. Independent economic and financial research is usually only available to big firms about to make large investment decisions and pay large consultancies and research firms to do the work. "financial analysts" really aren't that shit hot - trust me, I've known quite a few that have appeared on CNN with nothing more than stock broking and financial market knowledge. Trust the economists and academics, not the sales people on this issue.
And finally to sum up, this is economics. A field that we don't know a whole lot about, yet everyone will tell you they know everything about. It's the same field that failed to predict the financial crisis, and the same field that failed to remedy it. It could go either way, there is massive uncertainty with any prediction, but keep an open mind. The Chinese economy may not be as rosy as the China bulls claim, but neither is it as bad as you see it.
James, I'd be very happy if you could point me the way to some articles about this subject.
DeleteThe tanks themselves show what was the pattern in the pacific the last time, light to medium tanks are all that made it to the islands. The sherman was a light weight in europe, but a heavy hitter on the islands. Like Solomon mentioned earlier it's not about mainland fighting, it's what you can get to the islands. The Marines don't bring a lot of m1's on an amphip and they can only get 1 to shore at a time with current connectors. If the army were to get serious about an airborne armored gun system like the M8 Buford again, and they did recently start that debate again, why not have the USMC piggy back off that. M8 with a trophy system in level 2 or 3 armor configuration. You could bring up to 3 at a time to shore on the same connectors.
ReplyDeletei was all over the USMC joining the Army in the development of an Airborne Tank, that is until the budget fell through.
Deletenow, i'm liking the idea of the MPC developing into a family of vehicles and following the lead of the Stryker Brigades and getting a Mobile Gun System variant. i'd want it manned but you get the idea.
one other thing though. if we're going to join with the Army on their Airborne tank then its going to have to swim. even if its just across rivers, its going to need to be able to get wet. i don't know if the Army would go for that.
If they can get an MPC to swim even if its just on the inland waterways with a two man 105 or 90mm gun that would make a heck of an MGS. Either caliber can launch gun fired anti-tank guided missiles which would eliminate the need for a second tow missiles version for those longer distance or heavier targets. 90mm would save weight and might not shake the vehicle to death. The stryker with the 105 always looks like it was about to tip over every time it fired, and thats on level ground. But heck if they can get the 105 to work, even better.
DeleteThis Chinese Tank, if at 50 tons of weight, will not float.
ReplyDeleteIt does not have the volume to support itself floating.
It may ford through water not deeper than an attached snorkel and an extended sight, while its tracks dig through whatever in the Commander's strong urge to make back on to dry land...
If much lighter, then it may - but would be thin-skinned enough to be vulnerable to RPGs.
the Type 63 doesn't weigh 50 tons and i doubt that the Type99A2 does either. regardless the Type 63 is the swimmer here.
Deletei guess i wasn't clear on that. my bad.
Thanks, Sol.
Delete