The Chinese Type 99 main battle tank is a further development of the Type 98 MBT. It's prototype was previously known as the ZTZ-99. It is a third generation indigenous Chinese design, which was first publicly shown during a military parade in 1999. It's first production batch started in 2000 and this MBT is currently in service with the Chinese army.
The Type 99 shares some similarities with the Soviet T-72 and the German Leopard 2 main battle tanks. Comparing with the Type 98 MBT it has an improved engine and protection. The Type 99 is completed with a Leopard 2A5-style armor on the front of the turret, where armor has a great slopes for added protection.
Tank's main armament is a 125-mm smoothbore gun, fitted with an autoloader. It has a rate of fire in 8 rounds per minute using an autoloader or 2 rpm with manual reload. This gun is a copy or improved variant of the Soviet/Russian tank guns. It is capable of firing Russian 9M119 Refleks (AT-11 Sniper) anti-tank guided missiles through it's barrel as an ordinary round. The AT-11 has an effective range of fire up to 4 000 meters. This missile can also engage low-flying helicopters. China is producing the 9M119 missiles under license obtained in late 1990s.
Additional armament is similar to all Cold War era Soviet main battle tanks. It has a coaxial 7.62-mm and a 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns. It also carries smoke grenade dischargers for visual protection. The Type 99 MBT has an active laser self-defence weapon, which is currently used only by China, but it's usage do not corresponds with an international conventions.
The Type 99 main battle tank is powered by 1 500 hp turbocharged diesel engine. Considering it's relatively light weight and a powerful engine, it's no wonder that this MBT has a maximum road speed in 80 km/h. Even rough cross-country terrain it passes with a speed of 60 km/h. Acceleration form 0 ro 30 km/h takes approximately 12 seconds.
Main Battle Tank
