PLA Next Generation Main Battle Tank

[Gloire_bb]

The reason why everyone abandoned battleships is because a capital ship getting within visual range of an enemy vessel is just realistic.

Battleships are bad example - they were abandoned not for the reason and not at the point of time most people think of. Which is ironic, because both points are really simple to track.

For entire CW, engagement within horizon was expected to be normal.

 

[latenlazy]

Actually, given the huge shift toward network centric warfare and sensor integration, one must ask if there really is a need for the previous generation heavy armor platforms that are unsuitable for certain terrains and probably more maintenance heavy.

new plugin hybrid platforms with low noise & heat signature that are networked and connected with aerial assets could be better.

This is my initial view on the matter as well. If a good share of offensive capabilities is offloaded to networked close air support assets then ground fighting might increasingly favor tank forces that can be transported more quickly and execute faster maneuvers. After all a critical dimension of advantage in systems centric warfare is speed.

Even if this is the case though I do think that ground forces still need a heavy tank to *hold* positions, so there probably should be a heavy tank in the works as well, though the number of different tank types in the future force structure might be changing if what we’re seeing with this new light/medium tank in fact reflects a change in thinking about tank warfare doctrine.

 

[sheogorath]

I think we might be going into to much into opposite ends of the argument. While the Ukraine War has shown the weaknessess of MBT's with regards to drones, it has also shown the issues of having no MBTs or overreliance on lighter platforms, which at the end of the day are just as exposed to drones.

 

[latenlazy]

I think we might be going into to much into opposite ends of the argument. While the Ukraine War has shown the weaknessess of MBT's with regards to drones, it has also shown the issues of having no MBTs or overreliance on lighter platforms, which at the end of the day are just as exposed to drones.

I don’t think of this as indexing on drone warfare in Ukraine so much as adapting to new technological and tactical contexts. The point of the argument isn’t to only to depend on light tanks, but rather how a different kind of light tank might fit into the context of new thinking on broader ground warfare doctrine. The thinking is organized not around counteracting the prevalence of drones but around how to leverage available new capabilities to best achieve the primary objectives of ground warfare (which is generate maneuver advantages to take and then hold territory). This new tank needs to be seen in the context of other potential future platforms around it. If the thesis for the thinking behind this tank is correct this is but one piece in a whole system of new ground warfare doctrine. That at least would be the case for this tank being the primary mainstay of the future tank force (which to be clear we don’t in fact know to be the case currently).

 

[Gloire_bb]

I think we might be going into to much into opposite ends of the argument. While the Ukraine War has shown the weaknessess of MBT's with regards to drones, it has also shown the issues of having no MBTs or overreliance on lighter platforms, which at the end of the day are just as exposed to drones.

But medium tank isn't exactly light. It's passive protection is better than absolute majority of mbts in Ukraine, quite possibly even all of them.

 

[KampfAlwin]

This new tank is in the same weight category with the Type 10, which is said to be able to resist it's own 120mm APFSDS. Assuming the new tank's turret doesn't have much composite armour with most going to the hull, it should be better protected than Type 10 - especially with ERA.

 

[Tomboy]

This new tank is in the same weight category with the Type 10, which is said to be able to resist it's own 120mm APFSDS. Assuming the new tank's turret doesn't have much composite armour with most going to the hull, it should be better protected than Type 10 - especially with ERA.

Type 10 is heavier, it is 48 tons fully loaded while this tank is probably a little over 40 tons with all the addon packages.

 

[wuguanhui]

View attachment 158153
Photos of the alleged "Double Absurd" (Shuang Lipu) tank have surfaced during parade rehearsals.

What is "Double Absurd" about the tank?

 

[Gloire_bb]

Type 10 is heavier, it is 48 tons fully loaded while this tank is probably a little over 40 tons with all the addon packages.

Yeah, but no heavy turret, smaller gun, and much more efficient use of internal space.

 

[REautomaton]

What is "Double Absurd" about the tank?

Well, this is just a playful nickname coined by the Chinese observer community for this tank. Its original meaning was "absurd when viewed horizontally, absurd when viewed vertically," which later evolved to "absurd protection and absurd cost."